


say goodnight to purgatory

by chilibambam



Category: GOT7
Genre: Alternate Universe - Ghosts, BTOB Ensemble - Freeform, Exorcisms, Ghost Hunters, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Paranormal, Paranormal Investigators, Slow Burn, Strangers to Lovers, Supernatural Elements, Witchcraft, basically spn but i don't queerbait, exorcist Youngjae
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-11
Updated: 2021-01-06
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:47:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 21,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28008669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chilibambam/pseuds/chilibambam
Summary: If fate is real, then Mark meeting Youngjae must have been destiny.Mark doesn't believe that for a second.
Relationships: Choi Youngjae/Mark Tuan, Im Jaebum | JB/Kang Seungyoon, Park Jinyoung/Jackson Wang
Comments: 2
Kudos: 27





	1. may these noises startle you in your sleep

INVESTIGATION: 001

MARK, TUAN

16:13

_ THE INTRIGUING CASE OF CHOI YOUNG JAE _

  
  


“Are you sure this is legal?”

Mark pauses in his digging, glaring up at Jinyoung. The sun is in his eyes and he can feel the sunburn on his nose so he really has no time for this. Jinyoung stares at him before puffing his cheeks out and looking away, leaning on his own shovel. He’s keeping watch, his eyes on the open roads around them but they’re in a forest clearing so he doesn’t have to be too careful. 

It’s a common ritual site and Mark is in the process of digging up a hex bag that was placed incorrectly. He finds it easily, pulling it apart and accessing what he has to do to neutralise it whilst Jinyoung hums under his breath. It’s the middle of the day and that seems to help Jinyoung in not trying to scare the shit out of Mark, which is what he would normally do if it was dark out.

“Set it up,” Mark says, stepping out of the small hole he dug. Jinyoung lets his shovel go and pulls out the mirror from his backpack, setting it down on an open tree trunk, right in the centre of a bowl of black salt. Mark places the photo Jinyoung printed him this morning at the foot of the mirror and holds the hex bag in his palm, feeling his eyes begin to burn a little. 

Jinyoung steps back, because this is where he can no longer offer his service. He’s like an assistant of sorts but his knowledge can’t match the raw power that Mark has embedded in his soul, sadly. This is a day job for them, a woman claiming a hex from her estranged son and Mark needed to get out of the office for a while so he accepted it.

There’s a hum in Mark’s blood as he focuses, his breathing slowing down. He takes a breath, focusing his energy to the mirror and his palm heats up a little before cooling. He closes his eyes, feeling them water a little before he opens them again. He turns to Jinyoung, who's smiling at him, and flicks his hair out of his eyes. So much for a day job. 

“Let’s hope that reflected,” he says and Mark doesn’t reply, knowing the ritual worked judging by the way his energy is flowing freely through his body. He can feel the negativity leaving the site and he places the dirt back into the hole, passing the hex bag to Jinyoung for safe keeping. The grounds won’t be needing it anymore.

“Put it in the mirror box,” he requests and Jinyoung nods, shuffling the bag to pull it out. It’s an extra precaution to make sure that the malicious energy is reflected back to the caster. They’re getting paid for this so they need to be sure that it actually works. That, and the fact that having a hex on you can physically and mentally ruin your life if it's casted right.

Jinyoung hikes his backpack over one shoulder, one of the maps they use hanging out of a pocket. He looks cute like this, his hair a little long and hanging in his eyes, his white shirt is dirtied from some of the soil he managed to get on it. Jinyoung’s always been so pristine so seeing a little grime on him makes Mark smile to himself.

He turns on his heel and Mark follows him out, finding their car again. In the car ride back to the office, Jinyoung calls their client and asks general questions about how she feels and if she’s heard anything from her son. She says no and that she’s keeping the hex bag Mark made for her close, next to where she sleeps and it’s bringing her peace. 

Mark nods as Jinyoung answers and he soon hangs up. They fall into silence but Jinyoung eventually reaches over and takes Mark’s hand at the gear stick, smiling at him. It’s reassuring, mainly for Jinyoung though because the man thrives on physical touch but Mark still draws comfort from it. Jinyoung is nothing if not comforting. 

Mark squeezes his hand, dropping it a few moments later. It’s all in a day's work, especially now that the sun is beginning to set, bathing them in an orange and red glow. Mark just hopes his nose isn’t too burnt. His cheeks don’t feel hot, thankfully. Maybe he should have taken Jaebeom’s sunscreen this morning.

Ah, never mind it. Jinyoung chatters on about their other cases, some things that Jaebeom and Jackson have been handling. There’s a house fire case that was never explained and Jaebeom said he’d found all he could about the place online so a field trip wouldn’t be out of the question, just to make sure there’s no leftover energy. Apparently three people died and it’s right next to a crossroads.

“Tell Jaebeom to make a file and leave it on my desk,” Mark says, taking the last turn to the office. Jaebeom is the only one in the office right now, since Jackson left this morning to handle a housecall a few hours drive away. It’s quiet, even when Mark unlocks the lobby door, just after Jaebeom has packed up for the night. He still should be inside.

The four of them work together in a rinky dink little office, the downstairs being abandoned as many spoke of it being haunted and therefore unrentable. But Mark snatched it up and started a business with Jinyoung and Jaebeom joining soon after. Jackson heard news of a paranormal hunting office through word of mouth and showed up six months into it, looking for a job and the four of them have been working together ever since. 

Strange to think it’s been two years since then.

The upstairs of their office is more of a private area, with Mark’s office off to the right side like a captain’s office in a precinct. Jinyoung’s desk is open, with Jaebeom’s opposite his. There are rooms to the side of the floor, one used for the meetings they have every two weeks for catch up, as well as Jinyoung’s own room. It’s a little home away from home with their little room.

Jaebeom looks up from his computer when they walk in, scratching his head for a moment. He’s always calm when Mark comes back, his energy settling over the whole room subconsciously. Jabeom’s always been like that, settling when days are rough despite not being an investigator.

“Welcome back,” he greets, smiling when Mark rubs his shoulder. “All well?”

“Keep the case open,” Mark tells Jinyoung, taking the mirror box when Jinyoung puts it on the desk. He’ll bury it when he can but not now. He has to update the file of this one so they can close it finally. There are some precautions that they have to take before laying a case to rest so that’s what they’re doing right now. “And yeah, it’s been good.”

“I’ll call her tomorrow, as well,” Jinyoung tells him, smiling up at him. He and Jaebeom look so similar when they don’t smile with teeth. It’s funny yet infuriating - Tom and Jerry, really. “Good work today, hyung.”

Mark pats his hair, ruffling it a little and heads back to his office to sort out their findings from today. All in a day's work indeed.

  
  


***

  
  


Mark has always needed something to believe in.

He’s been a natural leader since the start, taking charge and knowing his limits well enough to know when to break them, when to let loose or when to take over. It comes with the job, with the understanding that not everything is what it seems.

He runs alone, or at least he thought he did. Mark has been trying for too long to make sense of everything in this world. In the good, the bad, and the ugly. He’s not sure if he would say he’s been plagued but he certainly hasn’t been blessed.

He isn’t unkind, despite literally everything. Mark knows that and he prides himself in it in his quiet way. He knows he’s quite good at keeping his ego in check and favours listening to people and hearing their ideas. He’s always been good at that - the silent cry-on-my-shoulder type.

His younger years were much the same - quiet and secure. Mark has always liked fantasy, always liked useless trivia that surprisingly came in handy later on. He loves teaching himself small, interesting things that he didn’t know before. When he fell into a rabbit hole of knowledge when he was younger, he told his family everything he was discovering, all the things the authors he so desperately loved had come up with and made him believe.

Mark knows, now, that the monsters he believed in when he was little aren’t real. Vampires, werewolves, shapeshifters; it would be intriguing if they were but Mark can’t be twenty-three and still believe in monsters like a little kid. He likes the tropes, how every author does the supernatural differently but there is one thing that he knows for a fact is real and is determined to prove it to everyone.

Ghosts.

Mark didn’t fall into the supernatural seriously until he was seventeen. He wanted there to be something more after death and he was looking for comfort. It’s rich as hell but he got what he wanted, only in the form of him being… gifted.

Whatever forces of the universe acted and gave him something. While his aunt had always been into crystals, his sister had always been interested in receiving her fortune and his brother had recently turned to God for comfort and guidance, this was an entirely different experience. All were different but each of them had an aspect that Mark really liked. It involved believing in something. 

In this world, believing in something brings people comfort that they need and Mark found that same comfort in the dead.

It’s unorthodox and his parents certainly did not approve of his job description when he began to train under a psychic after school. She knew too many things just from reading his face. He started crying and she told him crying didn’t suit him, that he’s too pretty to cry, too kind and warmhearted. He still laughs when he thinks of that.

“Do you think this is what you want?” his mother asked him once after dinner, the two of them cleaning the kitchen. He had come home and shown her his new deck of tarot cards because she always found them interesting and when Mark told her he had started to learn how to read them, she had encouraged him.

Because it was safe. Harmless. It’s just fortune to be interpreted how a person sees fit to their lives.

“Are you happy?” she added, glancing at him. There was something in her eyes, something begging him to answer in a way  _ she _ wanted. It was that look that made him think twice.

Mark weighed his options at the time and told her he wasn’t sure. 

“I’ll never know all the answers,” he replied to his mother later that night, looking at her. He crossed his legs and looked down at his hands, knowing she was listening to him. “But I want to find answers that will bring me comfort. I want to give other people answers with my talent.”

“What’s your talent?” she asked, watching him curiously. 

Mark swallowed and he still remembers how he avoided answering, making himself a hypocrite. She wanted to know more and he shied away from her in fear that he might scare her. But now, he regrets hiding what he does from her, what he can do, because he knows he helps people in many ways.

He still isn’t sure of all the answers but he’s more comfortable in his life, more comfortable in the questions he was afraid to ask when he was younger. It might not make sense to his mother but Mark has been looking for answers to questions he had never asked and finding them rather easily in this particular study.

Mark has a gift. It has taken a long time for him to admit that rather than channeling his teenage angst to rectify what was already fate for him. He hated himself growing up, hated everything he was, everything he thought. When that psychic made him cry, he felt rage and shame. His blood boiled like a whistling kettle and humiliated him.

But he knows he has a gift now. It took him too long to accept, to love himself over what he had been given so one day, he just… stopped. It’s something to be proud of, and he shouldn’t have been so hurt over it but he swallowed his pride and placed it somewhere else. These days, he embraces what he is proud to call his own.

He questions his line of work a lot. The logistics of it, if it’s ever going to be safe. Communicating with the dead is a lot more complicated than just opening your mouth and saying hello. There’s layers upon layers of things that can haunt him or simply… let him go.

Mark strives for peaceful encounters, to tell others of their loved ones, of what they’re thinking and that they are watching over them but it’s never easy. Some spirits don’t want to speak, don’t want to be disturbed. A lot of them aren’t even eager to stick around to have a chat to their living and breathing relatives. And the few that are truly corrupt cause more than just a headache for him.

The most stubborn one was a teenage boy. Mark opened his mind to him, to help him communicate with his family because that’s what he does. He lets spirits use his body because most are respectful to him and only come forward with permission. 

But the boy was so angry, so hurt by his death that he couldn’t move on. He fought Mark’s connection and struggled against his power, leaving Mark with a bloody nose and a migraine that lasted for three days. Younger spirits tend to have more power that they can’t control and it fucks with Mark’s own energy too much to keep under a lid. It’s not perfect and it almost never works.

But Mark isn’t sure what he would be doing with his life if it wasn’t this. Things seem to fall into place for him and he tries not to rely too much on fate but his line of work relies on things he can’t actually see in person so he can’t be too picky. Mark knows his power and he knows what to do with it. 

But that doesn’t mean it’s always sunshine and daisies.

  
  


***

Meeting someone in their world always has consequences. 

Mark hates to involve people who are better off without the knowledge of ghosts and demons but sometimes, the time is right.

Angels are always watching over, Mark's mother used to tell him before he went to sleep. The angels plan everything and it happens all according to fate.

If fate is real, then Mark meeting Youngjae must have been destiny. 

Mark doesn't believe that for a  _ second.  _

But he still remembers the day that he met Youngjae for the first time. He was the fifth one after Jackson to join Mark’s little team and became their resident exorcist. 

It was a Wednesday. He knows this because he remembers vividly writing the day and date in the top right hand corner of his notebook, staring at it for a few moments, seriously wondering how the hell it was only Wednesday when he felt exhausted like it was Saturday. 

Jinyoung messes around on his desk when he doesn’t want to do work, and he's doing just that. Mark should tell him off and to be fair, he has. Countless times before. But Jinyoung never listens and  _ always  _ gets his way because that’s how it always goes - like clockwork. So Mark never bothers with it, even when his ass is right on top of his documents. 

Jinyoung does leave after some time, when he gets bored of doing nothing and decides he should earn his money for the day. Mark watches him through the blinds of his office, sipping his coffee. He sighs, feeling the fatigue seeping into his bones from the day. It’s closing time soon. Mark will go home to continue his work out of the comfort of his own home. Maybe he’ll get possessed so he can finally pass out and sleep.

Okay, bad joke. Possession is bad, in any scenario. No cheating hell itself for his own gain.

“Hyung, look alive. New recruit.”

Mark looks up from his documents, over his glasses at Jackson who looks a little unsettled to be introducing the so called new recruit. Someone is behind him and Jinyoung is nowhere to be seen, so Mark gestures for Jackson to let whoever it is in. 

And then he sees  _ him _ . Tall and built with curly, jet black hair across his forehead. He’s strikingly beautiful in the most obscure way, his eyes dark with heavy bags and the left one is horribly bruised, purple blotches painting his high cheekbone with its watercolour. His bottom lip is split, making it puffier than it should already be but his eyes are still alight in the dimly coloured room, the sun set peeking through the blinds and painting his face golden. He looks like a romanticised monster, glowing in the sun. Mark blinks, his mind going unhelpfully blank.

“It’s nice to meet you,” the man says and his voice certainly matches the all black outfit, heavy boots and leather jacket scheme he has going on. It’s deep but not intimidatingly so and Mark finds it intriguing. His eyebrows raise in response. “My name is Choi Youngjae.”

“Mark Tuan,” he replies, shaking his hand firmly, trying to keep his mind on task. “Your… Uh, your face? Are you alright?” He gestures to his own face, trying not to impose but it’s not often that someone walks in with a black eye. This line of work has scratched him up many times but the blatant split lip and black eye combo Youngjae is sporting makes him a little concerned.

Youngjae stares at him for a moment before it clicks and wets his lip, dragging it into his mouth with his teeth even though it looks close to bleeding already. “Yes. I fell over,” he says, his eyes never leaving Mark’s gaze so he nods, not bothering to dive in further. It’s obvious that it’s a lie but it doesn’t seem like Youngjae will admit that and Mark doesn’t know him at all to concern himself any more.

“Well, let’s just get into it. Why do you want to work here, Youngjae?”

Youngjae quickly sits down in the chair opposite Mark’s desk, pulling himself in close. He looks into Mark’s eyes and the sun makes them glow once again. It makes Mark shiver. “I want to hunt ghosts and demons.”

“I’m a spirit specialist,” Mark says, looking back down at his documents warily. It’s not the first time someone has come in wanting to kick demons in the ass but this isn’t the movies and Mark isn’t in the mood for it, either. “I don’t necessarily hunt demons. If that’s what you came here for, I don’t have a lot to offer you.”

“I hunt demons already,” Youngjae counters, his voice dropping cautiously. “I need a partner - an agency. People who have the same beliefs as me. I can’t do it alone.”

Mark looks at him, keeping a blank face before licks his lips and sighs. “You’re welcome to work here, but I can’t promise you anything. What exactly is your practise?”

“I’m a licensed exorcist, specifically.” That occupation really doesn’t answer any of Mark’s questions about how he could have gotten that black eye.

Mark doesn’t hunt demons either - he has no idea what Youngjae really wants out of this. “That’s a relatively dangerous practise, is it not?”  _ I’ll need to verify his credentials... _

“It can be,” Youngjae answers, almost defensively. His voice doesn’t raise but his tone is something else. He’s definitely had this conversation before. “Sometimes.” He averts his eyes, sudden, and Mark takes a breath.

“Well, do you have anything on you that you can give me so I can verify you?” This isn’t how his interviews usually go so he needs to get a handle on this.

Youngjae needs no further prompting, however and dumps a binder on Mark’s desk, startling him. It’s not massive but it’s definitely  _ something _ of worth because of the sound it makes when it hits his desk. Mark hesitantly reaches out a hand to grab the folder, flicking it open. 

The act is like a switch, flicking something in his soul. Youngjae’s energy comes pouring out into the room to fill in between the gaps of Mark’s energy. It almost makes Mark feel sick with the strength of it, but it’s beautiful, like a key to a lock, everything falling into place. Their energy mingles in the air and Youngjae notices it too, meeting Mark’s eyes once again and this time, they really are yellow. 

Mark blinks and the colour is gone. He takes a breath, trying to recollect himself for the moment.“I, uh…” He clears his throat, his head starting to pound. “Well, I’ll keep in touch. Have Jinyoung see you out.”

Youngjae stands, offering his hand to shake but thinks better of it, maybe because of their little…  _ exchange _ . Mark manages a strained smile for him and when Youngjae is gone, he collapses into his chair completely, exhausted and drained from that simple interaction.

At least he knows Youngjae’s credits are meaningful. And that their energies like each other.

“Is he going to join?” Jinyoung asks, startling him. Mark smacks his knee against his desk and grunts, cursing himself.

“We’ll see,” he grits out as Jinyoung tries to rub his knee and soothe him, smiling. He apologises and Mark sighs, closing his eyes.

It was entirely unexpected, to the point where Mark had to think it was anything but a coincidence. 

  
  


***

“Did you look into that exorcist?”

Mark blinks at Jinyoung, completely confused as to what the hell he’s talking about until it clicks. He doesn’t know why his brain is being so slow today but he turns his head to his computer and clears his throat awkwardly. “Uh, I’ll be honest. I thought you’d do it?”

Jinyoung raises his eyebrows as if to say  _ seriously? _ and Mark sighs. Okay, so maybe he didn’t do his job as boss. Big deal. He’s done worse things in his life but from the way Jinyoung is staring at him from the dusty couch in his office, Mark knows what he has to do.

Research is always something he dreads but once he gets into it, his mind fills with information and he succumbs to every technique he’s ever absorbed from high school. He has profiles on all his employees, just basic records of addresses, phone numbers, skills and information. So it makes sense that he should do a background check on Youngjae because it’s protocol.

Jinyoung’s background check was hilarious because there was almost nothing. Mark told him that much and the younger just laughed. “Yes, I was quite literally a nobody,” he said and Mark couldn’t help but laugh with him, satisfied. He’s good at digging around and finding out anything he needed to know so the fact that Jinyoung had nothing on his profiles… It was suspicious.

Finding Youngjae proves to be surprisingly easy. There’s a few profiles of him on social media and he’s cute, a few photos of him with his brother, parents and friends. He’s surprisingly normal and Mark doesn’t find many embarrassing things, aside from a few baby photos.

There’s some churches that have him listed as a specialist, some introduction profiles on the websites but most haven’t been updated in a few months or years. Mark cross checks the profiles with Youngjae’s resume, confirming that he’s worked where it’s listed. Easy pickings.

But Youngjae said something that has stuck with Mark, sending chills down his spine because he understands the basic meaning but he feels there’s something more to it.  _ I need a partner - an agency. People who have the same beliefs as me. I can’t do it alone. _

Mark wonders what happened with the churches for Youngjae to say that. He takes his office phone, fiddling with the cord as he presses the first phone number in, glancing at Jinyoung when the younger perks up. He grabs his notebook and clicks his pen as Mark puts the phone onto loudspeaker, leaning back in his chair as the dial tone swims around them.

_ “Hello?” _ a man answers.  _ “This is the head pastor of Holy Harmony. Who am I speaking to?” _

“Good afternoon, sir,” Mark greets warmly, trying to find the head pastor on the website quickly. “My name is Mark Tuan. I’ve recently come into contact with an ex-specialist of yours. A man named Choi Youngjae?”

Silence is a deafening thing and the head pastor surely knows how to weaponize it. Mark’s stomach churns uncomfortably and Jinyoung scowls at the phone, clicking his pen impatiently. 

_ “Youngjae-ssi?” _ the head pastor finally says, not sounding too pleased to be talking about him.  _ “What about him, Mark-ssi? I’ll be completely honest, that boy isn’t… Um-” _

“He’s come to me for a job,” Mark interrupts, eager to get this over with for both of them, “so I need to cross check his resume. Could you tell me about him?”

_ “Are you a pastor too?” _

“No,” Mark says, almost snorting but that would be rude. “I run a paranormal hunting office, actually. But that doesn’t matter much, since I’m asking for Youngjae. Can you tell me about him?” He nods to Jinyoung and the younger clicks his pen, scanning his notebook.

The pastor sighs but still answers him, with an air of awkwardness.  _ “Youngjae-ssi was, uh… He’s adventurous. But it’s frustrating because he… doesn’t like to be tied down. He’s alternative and quite frankly, it was too irritating to get him to fall in line.” _

That’s what Mark assumed, since Youngjae didn’t seem to enjoy his last job. “Nothing positive, huh?” he teases but the pastor doesn’t laugh. Mark clears his throat awkwardly, his eyes shifting away. “I wanted to understand what exactly Youngjae would be working as, for a church? You have him listed as a specialist, but what ended up causing him to leave his job, since you seem to have nothing nice to say about him?”

The head pastor is completely silent before he takes a deep breath, his voice like ice when he finally speaks.  _ “Youngjae-ssi is impulsive and does not like to do things that aren’t on his terms. We have strict rules in place to protect our minds and souls from the devil but he never seemed to trust in them. There is darkness in that boy and I’m sorry that you are the next to find him.” _

“Blunt,” Mark comments, smiling at Jinyoung. That’s bad news for a pastor but wonderful news for them. Mark hunts the very darkness that Youngjae seems to be so drawn to. “You let him go because…? It’s not my business but I’d prefer to know what I am getting into.”

_ “Youngjae-ssi has an obsession with the occult.”  _ Jinyoung’s eyes widen and he pulls a face, impressed.  _ “He hates to follow rules. May I ask what your beliefs are, Mark-ssi?” _

“We’re trained in understanding the paranormal,” he answers automatically, knowing the values of his office because he’s the one who wrote them. “We don’t wish to cause harm or to upset spirits or the unknown. We investigate and research the paranormal so that we can better understand how they operate and why they are present.”

_ “Understandable. Youngjae-ssi is similar, only he creates havoc. He is a licensed exorcist but we don’t run exorcisms in this facility - at least not where someone might see. It is a last resort as it can be extremely dangerous but Youngjae-ssi sought out his own experiences, namely with demons.” _

Jinyoung’s pen scribbles all over his book, grinning to himself. Mark is liking the information they’re getting, too. “I understand,” he answers, rubbing his nose as his mind runs in circles about the exorcist. “Thank you for your time, pastor. I really appreciate this.”

The head pastor thanks him, presumably out of habit and hangs up, leaving Mark and Jinyoung in the office with the dial tone sounding. Mark presses the phone back to the machine, ending the call. He sits back in his chair and decides not to cross reference the rest of Youngjae’s resume, deciding to just call the younger to hire him.

Jinyoung hands him his notes and leaves the office quickly, as the call needs to be private and Youngjae answers right when the door clicks shut.  _ “Hello? I don’t recognise this number. Who is this?” _

“Youngjae, it’s Mark,” he greets and the younger grunts, shuffling coming from his end. “I can call back if you’re busy…?”

_ “What? No, I’m trying to reverse a spell. What’s up?” _

“Doesn’t that require a lot of focus?”

_ “Eh. It’ll be fine. What’s going on?” _

“I called your previous work,” Mark says, scanning Jinyoung’s chicken scratch. It’s mostly just a recap of what was said in the interview, and facts that they picked up about Youngjae. Jinyoung has circled  _ OCCULT _ in red, as well as the word being traced over multiple times. “The head pastor said you really like the occult?”

Youngjae cackles but it’s quickly followed up by a curse, his phone clattering to the floor.  _ “Fuck, sorry. Yeah, that sounds about right. That pastor hated my guts. His cat turned up dead and he thought I did it for a ritual so he fired me.” _

“Did you kill the cat…?” Jaebeom’s got five cats and there’s no way in hell Mark is hiring someone who likes to butcher them.

_ “Of course not,” _ Youngjae snaps, huffing a breath. Sounds like he’s been asked that a lot.  _ “But is that the only reason you called?” _

“Come see me tomorrow,” Mark says quickly, the words falling out of his mouth before he can second guess them. “Let’s talk,  _ Youngjae-ssi. _ I quite like the occult, too.”

_ “You want me?” _ Youngjae doesn’t believe it and all Mark can do is smile, his skin itching with something familiar. He wants to go out to the field and find something to hunt, to  _ discover _ .

“Yeah,” Mark says in a breath, smirking to himself. “See you tomorrow, little exorcist.”

  
  


***

“The hell you mean he’s a fuckin’ cat killer?”

Mark scowls at the shout, his skull full of pins and needles. He’s not hungover but an overload of power makes him wish he was. Jaebeom’s pained shout doesn’t help his case, the noises making his head feel heavy like a chunk of lead. Jackson isn’t back with their coffees and Mark is starting to regret ordering one.

His office door swings open, bouncing off the exposed brick wall and Mark almost screams at Jaebeom to get out, sick of him already. Their shift only started twenty minutes ago but Jinyoung is already tormenting his best friend, grinning at Mark from over his shoulder.

“How did you even hear that?” Mark murmurs but holds his hand up immediately, not wanting to hear Jinyoung’s explanation. “Never mind that. No, he’s not a cat killer. And watch your mouth with me. My head is killing me because you screwed up the research from yesterday and failed to tell me the ghost was violent.”

“I was sure you’d be good,” Jaebeom replies, a pout on his lip. “When’s the cat killer coming?”

Mark rolls his eyes, leaning back in his chair. He squeezes his eyes shut, rubbing them to try and relieve some of the pain in his head. “Whenever nine o’clock rolls around. Where is Jackson?”

“How should I know?” Jinyoung and Jaebeom say at the same time, looking at each other in surprise. But Jaebeom is the one that says, “He went out ten minutes ago. You want me to call him?” Ever the worrier of their little family. 

Mark shakes his head but that hurts more so he just huffs. “No, just… Get the fuck out… I need to take a nap. Wake me up when Youngjae is here.”

Jaebeom blinks, his eyebrows raising in surprise. If he took out his piercings, he’d look like a grade A church boy in that button up and sweater but Mark is too tired to tease him, for once. “What does he look like?” he asks, tilting his head like a lost puppy. That’s Jackson’s look and all three of them know it. 

Jinyoung wraps his arm around Jaebeom’s shoulder, the grin on his face too sinister to be reassuring. “He had a black eye when he came in, you know? Probably got glass in his cheek. You know, how those movies look with all the makeup…”

Mark tunes out the conversation completely. He drags his feet to his couch, the same one Jinyoung sat on last week to write about their new little investigation and Mark falls right into it, sighing. His head hurts worse than that time he cracked his skull falling down the stairs of his stoop but he’s halfway passed out and doesn’t need any more thoughts to rattle his brain.

He doesn’t dream because he never dreams but wakes up to Jackson’s face peering down at him, coffee in hand. He smiles and the brightness hurts Mark’s eyes, so bad that he scowls and turns his head into the couch cushion.

“When did you lie down?” the younger asks, helping Mark to sit up. He presses the coffee cup into his hand and Mark sighs, too tired to even enjoy the smell of the roasted beans.

“If you’re waking me up, it couldn’t have been too long.”

Jackson hums and kneels on the floor, smiling at him. “That new kid is in the bullpen.”

Mark hisses when the cup burns his hand. “Why didn’t you lead with that?” he grumbles, standing up on shaky legs. He almost topples over but Jackson is right by his side, steadying him and settling his nerves with an easy smile. “Thanks, Jacks.”

Jackson helps him outside and Jaebeom stands up to greet Mark out of habit, despite them being the same age. He’s more of a researcher than a secretary but he still directs Mark to where Youngjae is sitting, against the window lined wall of Mark’s office.

The young exorcist looks up at him, a smile pulling at his lips and it’s so much different to Jackson’s toothy grin that Mark squints at him. Smiles like that mean trouble because Jinyoung always wears a similar one when he tells Mark  _ not to worry _ about whatever the hell he’s trying to do in his altar room. “You asked for me?” He looks Mark up and down before frowning at him, lifting a brow. “Are you hungover?”

Mark feels no flattery because the check out was not because he looks good right now. His mouth tastes like a throat steroid with no water to wash it down with. Mark’s swallows do nothing for his tongue, dry as a desert. “I wish,” he laughs, bitter, offering Youngjae his coffee because he knows he won’t drink it, not even with this foul taste in his mouth. “You’re hired. Drink that. God knows I won’t.”

Youngjae takes the coffee and stares at it, the bruise around his eye an ugly splotch of yellow and green. His eye isn’t bloodshot anymore and there’s something gleaming in it, something that brings him to life. Whether it be anticipation or excitement, Mark doesn’t know but he knows he’s going to like it, no matter what it is. Even if it reminds him of Jinyoung’s schemes.

“I’m hired?” Youngjae asks, seeming so innocent but Mark knows better. This man is an exorcist for crying out loud - he’s probably seen a lot more than Mark ever has, judging from what the pastor said about him over the phone.

“You start at…” He pulls Jackson’s wrist up to check his watch and the younger whines in pain from being jerked over, shooting Youngjae a look. “Let’s go with nine. Fuck, did I sleep for fifteen minutes?”

“Yes,” Jaebeom answers, sitting back in his chair. He always looks like a fat cat but even more so now, with his hands on his belly. “Do you feel better?”

Mark lets Jackson go and rubs his face, watching the exorcist as he stands up. He slides his hand into his pocket and raises the coffee cup to his mouth, his smile never wavering. It’s unsettling in the best of ways, something Mark will have to get used to.

Mark puffs out his cheeks, blinking rapidly to clear his head. “No,” he answers, turning to Jaebeom, his hands on his hips. Jackson slips away from them to go to his own room. “But God knows when I’ll ever get better.” He gestures to the open floor, pointing to Jaebeom’s desk for Youngjae to join him. “That’s Jaebeom’s desk, Jinyoung’s right next to him. Now you know those two.” 

Youngjae waves to them both, giving a small smile. He follows Mark around the floor, avoiding the stairwell in the dead centre of the floor. “Jackson’s office is in there-” He points to the left wing, as they call it, “conference room is right next to him. Jinyoung’s got a room down at the very end for himself.” He turns around to gesture to the other side of the bullpen. “Computer lab’s right next to my office. Jaebeom usually works there if he’s not at his desk.” He gives Youngjae a small smile. “We’re a bit short on space.” 

He turns to Youngjae when they’ve reached the end of the walkway, outside Jinyoung’s room. It’s his altar room but Jinyoung can tell Youngjae that in his spare time. The young exorcist doesn’t look phased by anything, his eyes clear. 

“You get all that?” Mark asks and Youngjae fixes his eyes on him, taking advantage of their small height difference to look down at him.

“I think I got it,” he answers, a smirk on his lips. Mark’s eye twitches. “Do I get an office?”

Mark licks his lips slowly, knowing the computer lab has a small room next to it that they’ve been using for storage. He nods to the door, drawing Youngjae’s eyes off him.

“If you can clean that room out,” he says in a whisper, “then it’s all yours.”

The grin Youngjae graces him with makes the hair on the back of his neck stand up. It’s somehow innocent and mischievous at the same time. It makes Mark want to lock him up and figure out exactly what he is. He winks at Mark and makes his way to the storage room, set on his task for the day. 

Mark watches him go, jimmy the door open and walk in. He looks at Jaebeom and the researcher shrugs at him, having nothing to say. Mark supposes he has nothing to say either and sighs. He regrets giving Youngjae his coffee but it’s too late now. The steroid taste isn’t going away.

“Guess we’ve got a new family member,” Jinyoung says when Mark passes his desk, smiling up at the elder.

“Yeah,” Mark says in a rush, his head starting to pound again. “Take care of his payment, please. I need to go back to sleep.”

Jinyoung shares a look with Jaebeom who clicks his tongue at Mark, giving a curt nod. “Sure thing, boss,” he smiles and Jinyoung’s accompanying grin is something Mark doesn’t want to think about. He should have thought twice before hiring those two but it’s been too long to turn back now.

He had a choice to choose his family and yet got stuck with Jaebeom and Jinyoung of all people. He’s glad Jackson actually listens to him when he’s not being a pain in the ass. 

Mark jumps onto his couch and sighs, his eyes stinging when he shuts them. He pops two aspirin from the bottle he finds in the cushions, dry swallowing the pills and hopes he wakes without the splitting headache he has right now.

The steroid taste turns into that thick coating in his mouth that he always gets after a nap but he supposes it’s better than a powdery pill no bigger than a nickel choking him from the inside.

  
  
  


INVESTIGATION: 001

MARK, TUAN

08:48

_ THE INTRIGUING CASE OF CHOI YOUNG JAE _

**[CLOSED]**

  
  



	2. i don't know how but they found me

INVESTIGATION 006:

YOUNG JAE, CHOI

10:56

_ THE STRUGGLE OF MOVING IN _

  
  


It's already difficult enough to start at a new job but to start one where everyone knows you as… a cat killer? 

Youngjae is confused.

"I didn't kill it," he tells Jaebeom who has been asking him about the head pastor's cat that conveniently went missing when Youngjae was trying to complete a ritual. His whole backstory has apparently been on blast but Youngjae is used to having to explain himself. "He just wanted to find any reason to get rid of me."

Jaebeom averts his eyes awkwardly, back to his computer to pass the time. He’s the one who started the conversation so shouldn’t he finish it? Maybe that’s something Jaebeom likes to do. But the whole reason Youngjae is sitting at his desk is because Mark hasn't shown up for work. 

It’s worrying that his first day on the job is one without his very own boss.

"Shouldn't we check on him?" he wonders aloud, not looking for a direct response but his words summon Jinyoung, who walks up the stairs and drops his stuff on his desk. It’s a rather loud entrance and he pulls his sunglasses off his nose and smiles. Where has he been all morning, if not with Mark? "Hyung, aren't you close with him? Shouldn’t you be with him?"

"I don't see this energy for Jackson," the elder responds, smirking at him when he rolls his eyes. "But Mark-hyung is fine. He's doing a house call with Sseun." He unzips his shoulder bag and swallows, shaking his head. "He sucks at working with child spirits."

Youngjae can believe that but Jackson… He's not so sure. His energy is too stoked, just like a child’s but that can be awful for a run in. Maybe Mark and Jackson aren’t that good of a match. "And Jackson's good at it?"

"Jackson makes any kid calm, spirit or human," Jaebeom cuts in, sounding awfully proud of it. It’s strange to see him sticking up for someone but Youngjae can already sense that the two of them are quite close, same with Jinyoung. "Mark's too awkward with them and Jinyoung's too harsh."

The man in question sniffs, dropping into his chair and throwing his feet onto the table. "I don't like bratty children, dead or alive," he says bluntly. He crosses his arms, and turns to Youngjae. "Mark said you're an exorcist? You work with demons, then?"

There's a lot more to it than that but Youngjae nods, to answer it simply. "Demons disguise themselves as children to hide their true forms so I’ve worked with children but I can promise they’re not nearly as friendly.”

Jinyoung widens his eyes sarcastically, and he puts his hand up to his mouth, over exaggerating. It’s true - Demons are awful, terrifying creatures but they are Youngjae’s expertise so there’s not much he hasn’t seen before. Demons with red eyes, gold, green - he’s seen it all. Hell, he’s  _ felt _ demons in his friends, his co-workers within communities and he’s felt the separation of a human soul and a demon by his own hand and hated every second of it.

The thought of it makes his skin crawl but he’s long since adapted to the chills of handling demonic energy. He lifts his eyes to Jaebeom who’s staring at him like he just… murdered a cat, so Youngjae smiles without his eyes and turns to Mark’s office for some space.

“Woah, you can’t go in there-” Jaebeom says as Jinyoung stands up, watching Youngjae behind a curious squint. Youngjae glances over his shoulder at him before he steps into the office and picks up Mark’s telephone.

The dial tone fills his ears and he doesn’t really know what to do until he finds a number stuck to the computer monitor and dials it for no reason other than morbid curiosity. It could be anyone, really but the phone picks up with an answer of,  _ “This is Yien?” _ in English.

“Your accent is cute,” Youngjae says, knowing it’s Mark just from his voice. The way he speaks is so easy to follow. “Yien? Is that an alias?”

_ “It’s my birth name,” _ Mark answers in a huff.  _ “Why are you ringing this phone? Wait- How did you even get this number?” _

“I’m in your office.” Youngjae sits himself down on the desk, his shoes on Mark’s office chair and smiles so Mark can hear it in his voice. “Number was on your monitor. Which brings me to the question… Why would you have a number like this just lying around?”

_ “Jinyoung uses it when he needs to contact me,” _ Mark answers.  _ “It’s an ‘in case of emergency’ number, so why are you calling me? Did you seriously just dial this because you saw it?” _

Youngjae likes it when people figure him out. It’s such a false sense of security since no one truly knows people as well as they think they do. “More or less. Hey, I’m curious. Do you have any other aliases?”

Mark is silent for a few moments too long so Youngjae grins. _Jackpot._ _“Yes, but you haven’t even been working for me for twenty-four hours. So you can save your questions until you’ve gotten the whole boxset on my life.”_

“Which season should I tune into?”

“The one where you get the hell out of my office,” Mark says, suddenly in the doorway of his office, burner phone to his ear. He hangs up on Youngjae, the dial tone hanging in the air and Mark drops his phone onto the desk and says, “Out.”

Youngjae presses the button to end the call before putting the phone down, back in its rightful place. “You’re bossy,” he whispers, standing up and standing rather too close to Mark but his boss just glares up at him, unphased.

Mark raises his eyebrows in a challenge and Youngjae will admit that it sort of turns him on. He looks  _ dangerous. _ “And you’re about to be unemployed,  _ again, _ if you don’t get out of my office.”

Youngjae takes a moment, his gaze flickering from Mark’s eyes, one to the other. He steps back, presses his lips together and ducks his head in surrender, stepping away. Mark side eyes him as he leaves but Youngjae doesn’t turn back. He does go to his own space, away from it all, even as Jaebeom and Jinyoung have their eyes on him. 

It’s dead silent in their headquarters. Youngjae doesn’t mind the eerie quiet but when Jinyoung shuts his mouth, Youngjae doesn’t quite like it. When the chatter is about him, he can stand it but when someone’s thoughts become too loud…

Youngjae wants to rip his earrings out of his ears just to watch them bleed. It would give everyone something different to focus on.

But he’s the new kid for now so he has to suck it up and wait for the swirlies in the bathroom stalls. Hell, he doesn’t even know where the bathroom is. Maybe he should figure it out.

  
  


***

A few weeks later, Youngjae is a little more settled in and his room is finally coming together.

It’s dark in his room, just the way he likes it, with red mood lights and his little trinkets set up. To be safe, he brought a couch that folds out into a bed in case he has to crash here later on. It’s a precaution he doesn’t want to take but… shit happens.

Jinyoung knocks on his door when he’s knee deep in revising a spell. His eyes roll back to the pages and he sighs, looking up at the older man who’s frowning at him. “You right?” he asks, hand still on the doorknob.

“Routine,” Youngjae answers, his eyes stinging. He shoves his glasses up from where they’ve slipped down and stands up. His legs have pins and needles so he shakes them out, before smiling at Jinyoung. “What can I do for you, hyung?”

Jinyoung squints at him. “Calling me hyung with that expression isn’t something I wanted to see today but- Whatever. Mark-hyung needs you. You don’t have your intercom set up so I’m ringing your doorbell from now on.”

Youngjae follows after Jinyoung, almost collapsing from his legs giving out. “My what?” 

“Intercom,” Jinyoung answers, like Youngjae misheard. Jinyoung stops at his desk and hands Youngjae an office phone, just like the one he and Mark have on their desks. It’s old school but Youngjae likes it, the pure red colour already fitting nicely with his room.

“Intercom,” Youngjae laughs, taking it from him. “Thank you.”

Jinyoung leans on his desk and smiles at him, his hands behind his back once more. Mark may run the show but Youngjae is quickly realising that Jinyoung is the one turning all the cogs in Mark’s movements. He’s about to ask about it but Jackson suddenly joins them in the bullpen.

He stares at them from where he’s sitting at Jaebeom’s desk, his hair all tied up in a messy ponytail and points to Mark’s office, making a gesture of slicing his neck to indicate that Mark is apparently pissed off. They should avoid him, really. Youngjae has dealt with people like this for a long time.

But because Youngjae thrives in chaos, he opens his mouth and says, rather loudly, “Which fox caught the little rabbit?”

Jackson barks a laugh which is rather cute but he cocks his head to the stairs and stands up. “Come on, Jinyoungie. I’ve got some stuff I need your help with.” As he walks up to Youngjae, the two of them glancing at each other with wide eyes, he leans in and whispers, “And it’s Jaebeom. He’s our little battery but he’s always got Mark-hyung by the balls.”

Youngjae takes that with a grain of salt and decides Mark’s office is a better place to be than listening to Jackson gasbag to Jinyoung as they walk down the stairs. And that’s saying a lot.

Mark is talking into his telephone, scowling as he tries to write things down but when Youngjae walks in, he switches it to loudspeaker. Jaebeom is yelling, more to himself than to Mark but the elder just sighs and leans on his desk.

Youngjae rubs his hands together and grins at him, pushing up his glasses. “What’s happening, boss?”

  
  


***

“Jaebeom, Youngjae is here.”

_ “Oh, great,” _ he answers, bitter and twisted.  _ “More insanity.” _

“Not the worst I’ve been called,” Youngjae smiles, sitting on Mark’s desk. “But what’s wrong, Jaebeom-hyung?” It could be anything, with the way Jaebeom’s carrying on. Youngjae must be already piecing together everyone’s personalities and he’s probably figured out by now that Jaebeom is the most dramatic.

_ "Can you come quickly?"  _ Mark looks at Youngjae, confused, twin furrows on their brows. If Mark’s confused then maybe there is no hope. Still, Youngjae might be able to help.  _ "Um, I think I'm haunted." _

Silence. Youngjae blinks before raising his eyebrows, just as Mark’s jaw drops open, speechless. "By what?" Youngjae asks dumbly, screwing up his eyes as soon as he says it. "Sorry. Spirit, I assume?"

_ "Well, I can't see it," _ Jaebeom answers. There's a wave of static and Jaebeom cusses loudly, shouting when there's another crash, loud and clattering through the phone speaker. Mark is scared the line might cut.  _ "Come on, dude! My fucking- My plate is on the ground. I'll call you back- Fuck!" _

Mark blinks at his telephone, chuckling at the tone. "Well," he says to Youngjae, standing up, "looks like we've got something to do today."

"Beats researching," the younger smiles. He grabs Mark's keys and swings them around his finger, nodding to the door. Mark wonders when he started to fit in so easily but follows Youngjae out of the office.

They take Youngjae’s car because Mark doesn’t want to take his own and Youngjae’s is smaller. His is way too expensive to just ride around to Jaebeom’s sketchy apartment. Youngjae doesn’t question it, really. Boss’ orders.

Jaebeom's apartment is quaint, to say the least. Jinyoung meets them there, jogging through the hallway. "Hey," he greets, grinning like this is the best thing to happen to him. "This is the best thing to ever happen to me."

Well. "That answers that," Mark sighs. “Where’s Jackson?”

“He’s on errands but when it comes to Jaebeom…” Jinyoung grins at him, his eyes crinkling into his signature whiskers. “You know me.”

Mark shrugs. Youngjae is getting a lot of opportunities to learn the dynamics of all of them very quickly, it seems. He knocks on Jaebeom's door without another word. 

Jaebeom jams the door open and stares at them, wide eyed, his hair a complete mess. "Hello," he greets awkwardly, as if he’s surprised to see them here. His hair is a mess and there’s a cut on his hand but he’s in one piece. "He smashed my whiskey glass."

"Early onset alcoholism isn't a good look for you," Youngjae offers, shrugging. Mark glares at him because that was an unnecessary comment but he can’t take it back now. It certainly doesn’t help that Mark is holding in a laugh. "But has he shown himself?"

Jaebeom rolls his eyes but lets them in, grumbling to himself. "I'm not that useless," he mutters. There's a mess in his living room, fried rice scattered everywhere. Jaebeom has the matching stain on his shirt, as well as a nick from the shattered plate on his neck. "Bastard doesn't like me," he says and Youngjae laughs at him, slapping him on the back.

But there's something strange in the apartment as Mark steps around the ruined plate. It feels familiar somehow. While he thinks it's weird, Jinyoung appears to feel the same way. 

Jinyoung always clicks with Mark, like a key to a lock. He’s always on the ball, smart and to the point which is why Mark likes working with him. Jinyoung glaces at him now, his thick brows completely furrowed together. His hand holds his chin as he stares at the wall of Jaebeom's photos, his back completely straight.

Mark is about to ask Jinyoung something when Youngjae makes an awkward sound, like he’s choking on his own breath. Mark glances at him out of surprise to see Youngjae clutching his throat, having to lean on the wall just to stand up. It’s strange to see, considering how cocky Youngjae has been but his eyes are wide as he stares at Jaebeom, his glasses hanging low on his nose.

“You said-” he manages, shaking his head in hopes it will disperse what he’s feeling. Mark can feel the change in his energy.. “You said- You were… haunted?”

Jaebeom blinks at him but still has half a mind to help him stand up straight. Youngjae’s hand shoots out in defense, keeping him away. Whatever he’s going through, it must not be good but Mark doesn’t feel any different to how he would for a spirit. Neither does Jinyoung, if his confusion to Youngjae’s reaction is anything to go by.

“Yeah,” Jaebeom says, a lift to his voice, as if he’s unsure of his own answer. “Uh, is it not?”

“No, this-” Youngjae shakes his head again and exhales shallowly. “This is a  _ demon _ .”

That puzzle piece fits where it's meant to be perfectly. It should feel good, like everything makes sense but it makes Mark want to vomit. Jinyoung is suddenly no longer needed since it’s not a spirit but Mark still touches his shoulder and makes sure he’s okay. He should be keeping tabs on himself but it’s the last thing on his mind right now.

"You feel it?" Mark whispers, the younger turning to him and nodding curtly. "Jaebeom, you don't come out with us often so why would you be haunted? Well, um… What is this called?"

“A haunting,” Youngjae supplies, still uneasy with it all. For a demon specialist, he doesn’t seem too comfortable. “It could turn into possession but the beginning is a haunting.”

"Whatever it is," Jaebeom grunts as he pulls off his shirt to change it from the offending stain, "it's pissing me off. Maybe it’s because you guys have a hard time being haunted so it decided I was the next best thing? Something easy to cling to?”

“Unlikely,” Youngjae cuts in, shaking his head. He pushes his glasses up just to regain some of his composure. “Their energy would protect you. I would assume you have sigils and things in place to protect yourself?” He swallows, looking down. “Or my energy… should help.”

“Yeah, we have a Jaebeom panic plan,” Jinyoung teases, drawing his hand along the wall. God, that panic plan is outdated as hell but it should at least ward off a  _ demon _ . “I warded his apartment a while back so I’m not sure why a ghost or demon would even be in here.” 

Jinyoung glances at Mark who can only shrug. “Demons… We don’t deal with them,” he admits, crossing his arms. “Youngjae, do you have any advice? We’re kind of lost here.”

Youngjae takes a breath and manages to finally stand up straight. Jaebeom helps him but he opts against sitting down, staying close to Jaebeom despite his aversion before. “Well, have you visited any sites that could be demonic? It could have been a demon disguised as a spirit, honestly. If you don’t know what you’re looking for then you could miss it.”

If you don’t know what you’re looking for, you could miss it.

It dawns on Mark where Jaebeom has been with them suddenly, like ice rippling through his blood and freezing him solid. It was a few weeks ago, before Youngjae came to their offices. Jaebeom fucked up the research of their investigation with a house fire incident and it ended with a very angry ghost that hurt Mark so badly, he had a headache for three days straight.

But there was something about that site, those  _ grounds _ that made him anxious. His skin crawled when he visited and it wasn’t from the ghost. The house on site had burnt down three weeks prior, as soon as it had just finished being built, like it wasn’t meant to be there at all. 

Like something didn’t want it to be built.

“Jaebeom,” he breathes and the younger looks at him, concerned. He’s never been good with confrontation or the supernatural to begin with. That’s why he stays in the office, glued to his computer until his eyes go square and he goes home. It’s safe. “That house fire incident - did you take anything from the site?”

Jaebeom stares at him before he scowls, scoffing at the thought as if it’s ridiculous that Youngjae even  _ implied _ it. “That’s the first rule of a site. I know how it works-”

“But did you take anything?” Jinyoung’s voice is cold when he speaks, staring right through his best friend and Jaebeom shifts in place, grabbing at his arms for something to hold. “Jaebeom, this is serious. That ghost gave Mark-hyung a three day migraine-”

“I know that,” Jaebeom stresses but his eyes dart around, unable to keep eye contact. It’s his tell when he’s lying. “But this isn’t a ghost so what does it matter? If it’s a demon then I couldn’t have just taken something that  _ belonged _ to it. Those things don’t have possessions-”

“Then did you or did you not,” Youngjae says coldly, from over his shoulder, “take anything from the site?”

His tone makes all of them stand rigid and Jaebeom looks like he might cry at any moment. The silence hangs over them like a weighted blanket, suffocating. Mark thinks he might choke on the thickness of the air. 

But Jaebeom turns and walks into his room, returning with a necklace of gold dangling from his fingers. Youngjae takes it from him rather gingerly, frowning at it but Mark knows exactly what it is. He’s seen it before.

The sun pendant was what they found in the rubble of the house fire site and Jaebeom jokingly commented on how he would like to steal it, should it be any other circumstance. Mark brushed it off, knowing Jaebeom was better than stealing from a damn ghost, let alone a house fire, but apparently he was wrong.

The pendant is an open sun, simple but pretty. The rays are pointed out and sharp to the touch and if Mark has to be honest, it would look amazing against Jaebeom’s tanned skin but that’s not the point right now.

Jinyoung shivers next to them, his head dropping and Mark feels the static in the air lift the hair on his arms. The fried rice stays where it is but Mark’s phone starts to burn a hole in his pocket, making him curse and toss it to the floor. It rattles around on the tiles like it’s being shaken. The rest of the team follow suit. Youngjae hisses when the sun pendant seems to get hot too, dropping it to the tiled floor in a small clatter.

Everything feels cold and hot all at once, all of the hair on Mark’s body standing up. Jinyoung seems to get a hold on himself but his eyes zero in on Jaebeom, going wide and he chokes, almost dry retching on the pure dark energy that forms in the room. The lights flicker, flashing in spurts that hurts Mark’s eyes. He looks away when his brain begins to throb. 

Jinyoung’s voice breaks through the haze, a strange call of Jaebeom’s name but something shatters behind the older man, forcing Mark to look up. It’s a horrible thing, his voice doubling,  _ tripling _ but he holds the heel of his pal to his temple and tries to swallow past the bile in his throat.

The demon appears behind Jaebeom in a swarm of pungent red smoke, grabbing him by his shoulders suddenly. Jinyoung chokes on a yell, unable to warn his friend as its claws curl around Jaebeom’s arms, black and sharp like some kind of  _ monster _ . The researcher screams in shock, his body contorting strangely in an attempt to get away, the claws catching his shirt and Youngjae jumps back from the both of them, his hands shooting up to show that they’re empty.

Jaebeom whirls and slides back along the floor, staring up at the monster as he grasps the sun pendant. He’s shaking all over and the demon stares down at him, his white hair fluffy and kinda cute, if his eyes weren’t bloodshot and his skin wasn’t covered in soot.

His appearance changes, his skin returning to a normal tan and Mark sighs, realising the wave of calm that washes over them is from the being, rather than Jinyoung or Mark’s abilities. It doesn’t make sense since demons are complete rebellion and pain within a vessel but it’s better than Mark vomiting on Jaebeom’s floor from the sudden darkness.

“Since you think it’s etiquette to steal my things,” the demon says, his voice gravelly and deep, “I thought I would pay you a visit.” It’s a Busan accent, Mark notices, which makes sense considering the housefire happened in Busan. It was a three hour train ride and Jaebeom slept for most of it so Mark doesn’t know how none of them realised a demon was coming after them.

Jaebeom starts to apologise profusely, tears streaming down his face but Youngjae smacks the back of his head, making him freeze and shut his mouth. “He’s not angry,” he clarifies, looking at Mark for approval who just pulls a face, no clue as to what to say. “You took the thing he’s attached to.” He turns his eyes to the demon who peers at him. “Though I wouldn’t think that demons would be attached to that kind of thing?”

“Of all the things you could have robbed me of,” the demon mutters, rolling his eyes. There’s collections of darker reds, almost black, swirling through his eyes which is the only reason Mark can tell he’s rolled his eyes. He looks more like a vampire than a demon but that’s besides the point. “You’re right. But that pendant is from when I was human.” He gestures to himself as if it should explain but it doesn’t since he’s… rather modern. His outfit is simple, black jeans and a white shirt that fits his silver hair but his appearance makes Mark frown.

Youngjae seems to notice too and asks, “How old are you, sir?”

“God,” the demon laughs, crossing his arms. “Twenty-six. Do you think I’m so old, calling me sir?” None of them comment on the blatant lie so the demon sighs. “Fine. I’m a little bit over six hundred. I’m a crossroads demon.”

“You’re Kang Seungyoon,” Mark fills in and the demon nods, winking at him. That leaves a horrible feeling in his stomach but he still continues on. “That… That house fire - the house was built on one of the corners,” he says to Youngjae. “I thought it was weird but I didn’t think we’d be dealing with a demon…”

“Well, you weren’t,” Seungyoon says, crossing his arms. “I was happy to leave you alone. I didn’t set the house fire but it’s the same place that I died when I was human. It’s only normal that it would be haunted.”

The demon grins, laughing to himself and offers his hand for Jaebeom before deciding against it, raking the researcher’s long hair back from his eyes. Jaebeom blinks up at him, a violent shiver running all over his body from the touch. His eyes still have tears in them, glittering drops like a cartoon character so Seungyoon crouches down and gives him a smile. He's tall, taller than Jaebeom but the way he kneels makes him seem so small.

“I could have done a lot worse to you,” he admits, raising his brows and Jaebeom stares blankly at him, sniffing once. “Be lucky I'm nice. But that pendant is very special to me, so now I have to haunt you.” He glances at Youngjae and smiles again. “Haunting is the right word, right?”

Youngjae nods awkwardly, not used to being addressed by a demon. But Jaebeom barks a harsh laugh, his eyes wide and Seungyoon’s grin screws up his nose cutely. "I'm… My name is Jaebeom."

"You're cute too," He says as if that's an answer. Mark really isn’t liking this whole demon thing but Seungyoon is a cheeky bastard who’s worming his way into everyone’s hearts very quickly. But Youngjae seems to be a different case.

The tension settles and colour returns to Youngjae’s face suddenly. Jinyoung uncurls his fingers from his palms, the danger evaporating from the room. Seungyoon helps Jaebeom up which makes Jinyoung step forward in shock but Seungyoon seems to understand being a demon a lot more than any of them. 

The way he holds Jaebeom's hands manages to make Mark feel lonely which in turn makes him realise just how desperate he is. There’s too much care in the action for a demon and just enough for a human embracing a familiar friend so Jinyoung backs off. Mark swallows and tries to think of anything else.

“I won’t hurt him,” the demon says quickly, shaking their joined hands as proof. “But him having that pendant means he’s stuck with me. Apparently.” He offers his hand to Youngjae, still holding Jaebeom’s and the exorcist takes it gingerly, grimacing a little at the feeling. “You feel disgusting, no offense. Are you a preacher man?”

The exorcist laughs and draws away, trying for some resemblance of normal. "Yes, I’m an exorcist underneath God. My name is Youngjae.”

"It's a pleasure. I think?" 

Seungyoon lets Jaebeom go to take the necklace from him, gazing at it softly. It must truly mean a lot to him, for him to offer it to Jaebeom and the researcher stares at him, his fingers shaking to touch. The demon unclips the clasp and fastens it around Jaebeom’s neck, letting it rest against his skin where his v neck shirt allows it too.

"Now take care of it," Seungyoon warns, his eyes wide. "I quite like you already, so you better take care of me. It's like having a pet only I don't have to eat, drink or sleep and I like expensive things.” He eyes Jaebeom's rings as if to prove a point so the researcher takes one off and offers it to him, right in the palm of his hand. "Oh, for me? You shouldn't have! We're going to be very good friends, you and I. Jaebeom, right?"

"Beom works," he answers, smiling a little so Seungyoon grins.

"Yoon works for me." He eyes Mark from where he stands past Jaebeom's shoulder and squints like a hunting cat at him. "You're Mark," he says, pointing, "Jinyoung, hm? I suppose I should be calling Mark hyung, no?"

"Don't worry about it," Mark dismisses, waving his hand. "We should be more cautious but… Do you have any reason to be here? Aside from the pendant. Can’t you just take it back?” 

“Awfully rude,” Seungyoon teases, winking. He cocks his head, spinning Jaebeom around to face Mark. He rests his arm over his shoulders and Jaebeom tenses before relaxing, glancing at the spirit. "And I could, but I quite like it on Jaebeom. And before you get confused, my unfinished business from when I was human was taken care of when I died."

"How so?" Youngjae asks, stepping around them to Jaebeom's living area and beginning to clean up the fried rice. Jinyoung helps him but keeps his eyes on the demon, cautious for his friend. 

"I had a stepfather," Seungyoon answers, leaning his chin on Jaebeom's shoulder. It's like they've been friends their whole lives with the way they’re touching. He draws his hands down Jaebeom’s arms and laces their fingers together. Jaebeom stands rigid, glancing at him and Seungyoon just smiles, as innocent as he possibly can.

"He was a real pain,” Seungyoon says, “especially to my mother. I was going to kill him, really. But the house went up in flames before I could make it satisfying." Jaebeom swallows, dropping his eyes to the floor and Seungyoon grins at him, whispering right into his ear, "I held him in that house until we both went under."

Jaebeom breaks away from him, shaking out his body like it will expel everything Seungyoon just told him. The demon doesn't move to hold him again, showing his empty hands before placing them on his hips. It’s a feeling that makes them all feel  _ wrong  _ but there’s nothing they can do to shield themselves from Seungyoon’s energy.

"But yeah," he concludes, smiling despite the haze over the room. Youngjae shakes his head when Mark shoots him a look. "I became a demon because I had sold my soul. The house fire was my gift but I… got stuck in it, shall we say?” He reaches out to touch the pendant and Jaebeom stares at him, his brows furrowed. “My crossroads demon killed me, the bastard. But in exchange, I became one so I suppose I can’t be too angry.”

"Explains why you're connected to that pendant," Youngjae says, standing up straight. He doesn’t look quite as sick as before which is good. "But just- You need to be wary of yourself. Especially Jaebeom.”

Seungyoon turns his head to the exorcist, his eyes a deep and unsettling blood red once more. “I know demons,” he says, almost like a warning. “You don’t. I know humans. You don’t. So don’t tell me what to do or how to act. I know who I am.”

Youngjae blinks before he drops his head, easily surrendering. “My apologies. I only wanted to look out for Jaebeom-hyung. But, if you’re not good to him, no amount of fun times is going to change that I will send you back to where you were created."

Seungyoon nods, serious for once. "I know my worth to you. You don’t like me.”

“You’re connected to me, right?” Jaebeom’s voice comes, startling them all. It’s easy to get tied up in all things Jaebeom, even when Jaebeom should be the one talking. “So you’re mine.”

“That’s-” Seungyoon turns once more to him and laughs, his eyes wide. “Don’t think you own me-”

Jaebeom smiles at him and that shuts Seungyoon up completely, his eyes wide. Mark knows the feeling and for now, he makes the decision to usher everyone out of the apartment so the two of them can talk. But Seungyoon stops Jinyoung by his shoulder, glancing at him.

“This little bookworm doesn’t get out much, does he?” His voice is quiet, gaging Jinyoung’s response just from looking him up and down with his dark eyes.

Jaebeom doesn't respond to that comment so Jinyoung laughs. It’s a sweet thing but full of sarcasm for Jaebeom’s sake. "No, he's our resident scaredy cat. But I'd be careful if you're coming to the office with him. Wards and… other things.”

“I’ll disable them,” Youngjae calls and Mark finally shoves them that final step out of the doorway, into the hall. “I’m going! But shouldn’t we-”

“Jaebeom is a big boy,” Mark manages as he shuts the front door, despite every instinct in his body telling him the exact opposite. They have a Jaebeom panic plan for a reason and  _ this _ goes against everything in that plan and then some more. But he swallows and pushes Youngjae to the elevator, Jinyoung close behind.

“Shouldn’t we…” Jinyoung’s voice is quiet but not calming in the slightest. He steps up to the elevator and presses the button to call it before turning to Mark. He has never seen the younger so torn up about something in all their years together. “Mark-hyung, I don’t feel good about this at all.”

“Seungyoon won’t kill him,” Mark answers, pressing the button again. “He could but I have a very good feeling he won’t. Youngjae, do you have nothing to say?”

Youngjae watches as the elevator doors open, his eyes half lidded and blank. He glances at Mark when they’re inside and just sighs, screwing up his face. “I honestly don’t know,” he admits, scratching his lip. “I… He doesn’t seem dangerous which is good but you can never be too careful. Just… All we can do is check on him and fix the wards. We can’t just erase them or else any demon will just walk in.”

Mark nods curtly, taking that for what it’s worth. “Could you do it? You’d know more than us. I’m actually surprised the wards even worked in the first place.”

“That gives me no hope,” Youngjae sighs but chuckles to himself, shaking his head. “Ah, it doesn’t matter. I’ll sort them, if you show me they are.”

Mark can do that. There’s a lot of wards all over the office that definitely need updating so it looks like they’ve got afternoon plans now. 

Jinyoung looks pale in the face, sick with worry so Mark takes his hand and squeezes it, just for some kind of comfort for the younger. “Are you afraid?” he whispers and Jinyoung sighs, hanging his head.

“Yes, but when are we ever not?”

Mark presses his lips together and decides not to grace that with a response. Jinyoung has a point but there’s nothing to say, really. They can’t do too much right now. All they can do is work and… wait.

  
  


***

Painting is never something Youngjae has been interested in. Drawing sigils to ward off various monsters is something Youngjae is interested in but it seems Jaebeom is the artistic one, if Jinyoung’s grumbles are anything to go by.

“Is this correct?” the elder asks from where he’s painting a sigil against angels on one of the walls on the ground floor of the office. Youngjae turns around, holding his own bucket of UV paint and smiles without his eyes. Jinyoung frowns. “That’s reassuring.”

“Sorry,” Youngjae sighs, trying to clear his head. “I don’t like… whatever the hell we’re doing with a damn demon. A crossroads demon, to be precise. I’m not exactly happy about this.”

“You and me both,” Jinyoung answers, sighing. He turns back to his sigil and Youngjae finishes off his one which he prays will work because he modified it to… exclude Seungyoon specifically. He had to dump a vial of his blood into a seperate pot of paint for this one which the demon appeared to have… lying around. Good to know.

“Aren’t you a little bit pissed off?” Jinyoung asks after a while, having moved onto painting a sigil for spirits. “Like… With the fucking- whole demon thing?”

Youngjae isn’t happy about it but he just sighs and puts his bucket of paint down in a loud clatter. “It doesn’t bother me as much as it should but that’s mainly because he’s not… in the general area. You felt awful in his presence, right?”

“Like knives running down my skin.”

“Yeah, I had that too but I felt like my head was going to explode. My blood went cold and I was just nauseous the whole time.” It’s hard to even recall, to explain himself but Youngjae has been through a lot worse. “I’m hoping Jaebeom’s energy will mask his like it does to all of you.”

Jinyoung glances over his shoulder at him in confusion. “Mask ours?”

Youngjae is slowly beginning to realise that this ragtag mix of people don’t know nearly as much as what they let on. Maybe Jinyoung isn’t running the whole show after all. “Jaebeom-hyung is… a power bank, I guess. It’s difficult to explain but the reason all of your thrive from him is because his energy is-”

Jinyoung lifts an eyebrow. “Lazy and carefree?”

Youngjae snorts. “You said it, not me.”

Jinyoung chuckles, a pretty sound. “Jaebeom and I have been friends for a long time. I dragged him here to this office. Mark-hyung hired us and… the rest is history. I guess he must have figured that out about Jaebeom, too.”

Youngjae doesn’t see that as too far-fetched. Even if Mark has no idea about demons, he sure knows more about spirit than the average person. “Did he teach you a lot? Mark-hyung?”

“Yeah, he taught me almost everything. We specialise in different areas but… Yeah, it’s a long story.”

Youngjae didn’t doubt that Mark was the leader of their little pack, at least being the face of the company. Jinyoung has an air to him that Jaebeom seems to feed off too, an air of leadership. However, Mark seems too stubborn to give up and has that last little bit of oomph that the others don’t.

He shakes his head, sighing heavily. “I’m… I’m tired, hyung. I’m praying this will work, honestly. I don’t know if it will.”

Jinyoung hums and pulls his phone out, an old burner that all of them seem to have. Youngjae is still waiting for his company burner phone. Jinyoung presses two buttons and lifts the phone to his ear, waiting. “Hey, Jaebeom. Can you bring your little puppy here to test Youngjae’s sigils? He put the demon blood in the paint.” There’s a reply that Youngjae doesn’t hear but Jinyoung hums and hangs up, shaking his phone a little. “He’s on his way. He should be-”

Suddenly, there's whispers that fill their ears, curses and charms that make Youngjae’s head spin so horribly that he sways on his feet. It’s excruciating to hear such evil even though Youngjae can barely make out the Latin but the worst part isn’t his eyes wanting to pop clean out of his skull - it’s the nausea that makes his dizzy and seeing double, his glasses unable to help him refocus.

Seungyoon stands outside the offices, his hand on Jaebeom’s shoulder who looks like he just woke up. He’s at least dressed, in all black like usual with the sun pendant around his neck. His rings don’t match, silver against gold but Seungyoon doesn’t seem to mind. He looks even nicer, his red turtleneck under a white collared shirt. 

“He looks normal,” Youngjae mutters as they watch the two of them walk up and try to enter. Jaebeom gets in without an issue and turns to wait for Seungyoon who suddenly seems nervous, his shoulders tense.

“Come on,” Jaebeom says, tilting his head. “Scared of a few sigils?”

“Not the sigils,” Seungyoon answers, gingerly walking up the stairs to Jaebeom. “Just… This isn’t really… demon friendly.” But he watches as Jaebeom walks in and takes a breath, closing his eyes. When he opens them, there is only red with little black swirls that look like black holes, easy to get lost in for eternity.

Eventually, Seungyoon fixes his eyes on Jaebeom and steps through the doors, letting them swing closed behind him. He blinks but his eyes don’t change and that seems to confuse all of them, especially Seungyoon. He frowns and tries again but it doesn’t work, his crimson, soulless eyes still in play.

“This place does amplify our abilities,” Jinyoung mumbles, awkward and Seungyoon sighs. 

“Fine,” he answers, drawing his arms in. “At least the sigil works. I can feel it against me so it will keep demons out. If you make the rest of the demon sigils with my blood, it should work well enough.” He glances at Jinyoung’s wall of sigils and smiles. “Those are correct, at least. Well done.”

Jinyoung stares at him before he nods, once and curt. “Right. Well, thanks for testing it. You can stick around or you can-” Seungyoon disappears all too suddenly, the whispers appearing again but they don’t hurt as much this time. Jinyoung sighs. “Or leave. Anyways. Jaebeom, are you here to work?”

“I was going to leave but-” He throws his hands up and shrugs. “He was my ride.” He points at Jinyoung before swinging his finger to Youngjae. “Don’t say anything dirty.” 

Youngjae grins, shrugging like he has no idea what Jaebeom is talking about, and Jinyoung puts his hands up in surrender, grabbing his paint bucket again. “My lips are sealed. But if you’re here to work then help us do this.”

Jaebeom grumbles but crosses the floor to Jinyoung. He pauses just in front of him, looking down at his paint bucket before he dips his hand into it and starts smearing it over the walls in what appears to a sigil against reapers. Youngjae is surprised he even knows how to do that by heart.

He turns back to his own wall and decides it's better to finish up before something else can walk through their doors and chop them up into little pieces for Mark to find when he stumbles down the stairs later.

  
  
  


INVESTIGATION 006:

YOUNG JAE, CHOI

18:44

_ THE STRUGGLE OF MOVING IN _

**[CLOSED]**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello to seungyoon ! i'm quite sure most of you know who yoon is but in case you don't, he and jaebeom are very close irl and he is from winner :] 
> 
> thanks again for reading, i love you guys will like what i do with this au


	3. desperado

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> no specific warning for this chapter but there is an exorcism ? it's not graphic or gorey or anything but just a warning for it :)

INVESTIGATION 011:

MARK, TUAN

15:22

_ CONVERSATION OF ABILITIES _

  
  


Team meetings are one of the few things that should always go to plan. Mark has told Youngjae that they have them every two weeks, for two hours on a Friday afternoon but it depends, really. If they have time, they’ll have a meeting but that’s based on who is free and who is in the building at the time.

“Jackson has the biggest room but the conference room is right next to him,” Mark says as Youngjae follows him to said room, glancing over his shoulder. “But you’ve explored enough, haven’t you?”

“Like a kid knows his backyard,” Youngjae answers, lips quirked into that damn grin that can only mean trouble. Mark unfortunately knows that much. “What do we have to meet for, though?”

“Just catching up on cases that have been worked. Everyone runs the paperwork through me but it’s good to keep everyone on the same page.” He shoves the old key into the hole, a skinny little antique thing that could snap at any moment. He needs another copy for Youngjae’s keys when he gets them so fingers crossed that this isn’t the day Mark finally snaps the thing in half.

The conference room is eerily silent inside, through its energy. It’s the only room that is completely neutral, nothing to make it spike up or down or make it go out of whack. Mark always feels better when he steps inside and Youngjae seems to fizzle out, his shoulders drooping. 

“It’s nice, isn’t it?” he says and Youngjae nods, running his fingers along the long oak table. It never gathers dust somehow. Maybe because Jackson cleans when he’s bored which is very common. “I really like it.”

Youngjae sits down, having brought nothing. He startles when Mark dumps his logbook onto the table, a weight in which Mark didn’t realise he was carrying until he heard that thud. It shakes the whole table.

“Morning team,” Jackson greets warmly as he walks into the conference room, his cases underneath his arms. Jinyoung is close behind him, sunglasses high on his nose and he smiles, handing all three of them coffees from his cup tray.

Mark doesn’t even have to tell Jinyoung to get him coffee - that’s how close they are. It’s one thing to work with someone and get close like that. It’s another to risk your own psyche everyday and still come home in one piece. 

Jackson unloads his own files, placing them in the middle of the table and Jinyoung takes a few, getting right into their routine. “We sort through each other’s files to make sure we know how to order them,” Jackson says, handing one to Youngjae to start him off. “That’s the housefire case from when Seungyoon hopped on Jaebeom. Since it turns out he’s a demon, you could fill in anything that’s missing, right?”

Youngjae blinks at him before taking the file and a pen from Jinyoung. He flicks through and gets into what needs to be done, barely lifting his head when Jaebeom walks in with Seungyoon close behind. Mark likes the look of that. Dedicated.

Seungyoon sits down right at the end of the conference table and throws his feet up. He’s got a lollipop to keep him occupied and Jaebeom sits down next to him, long hair pulled back by a sports headband. Mark didn’t even know he played sports.

“Baseball,” Seungyoon says suddenly, eyeing Mark. “He played baseball in ninth grade. For two years.”

“You two are awfully intimate with each other,” Youngjae answers for everyone, his eyes still on Jackson’s file. “Care to invite all of us over for a tea party?”

“I would, but I don’t quite like church people,” Seungyoon says, looking at Youngjae like he wants to eat him. “No offense, God's honest truth- Or whatever the hell they’re yapping inside the four white walls.”

Youngjae still laughs despite the weird tension that has settled between them all, shaking his head. “Wouldn’t have a clue.” 

A thick and awful silence stretches between them all as Seungyoon says nothing. He stares at them all with various degrees of intensity with those crimson eyes of his, before he fixes his eyes on Jaebeom and smiles, so sweet and natural that Mark feels uncomfortable watching it.

Seungyoon leans on his hand as Jaebeom takes a file from Jinyoung, his eyes somehow holding warmth in the dark pools. He even tucks a piece of hair behind Jaebeom’s ear and the researcher returns his smile with an even softer one.

“Thanks,” he whispers and Seungyoon hums, caught up in himself.

“Okay,” Mark says quickly, licking his lips. “Let’s get this started. Jaebeom, I’m assuming the Seungyoon case is all good considering how much he’s humping your leg?”

Seungyoon turns his eyes to Mark and speaks before Jaebeom can. “I like you, Mark. So I won’t rip out those wisdom teeth that still haven’t come through.”

“You can see those?” Mark asks, instead of being afraid. He thought he didn’t have wisdom teeth but apparently… The plot thickens. “I don’t want to know, actually. All sunshines and rainbows for you?”

“Yeah,” Jaebeom says, sticking his finger into Seungyoon’s collar to make him squirm. “The sigils work so it’s all good on the office front. I’ll need the new files so I can digitalise them so if everyone could leave those on my desk, I’ll get started on Monday.”

Seungyoon smiles again, in a daze. “You’re so smart,” he whispers and Jaebeom laughs once, his ears going red hot.

Mark decides to ignore that and glances at Youngjae to make sure he’s listening. The exorcist has his eyes fixed on Seungyoon but he looks at Mark when he notices and smiles softly. “Cool,” Mark says, clearing his throat. “Then everyone is okay with that.” Nods and hums. “Great. Seungyoon, I actually need you to do something for me.”

The demon blinks at him, tilting his head so Mark continues on. “You and Youngjae are our best bet for demon knowledge right now. Would you be willing to work togeth-”

Youngjae drops his pen and stares at Mark, his brows furrowed. “Uh, I think I should be asked about this, not the demon?” He glances at Jinyoung who just pulls a face, unable to defend him. “Sorry, I know this is my line of work but I’m not exactly in this to be bunk buddies with a fucking crossroads demon.”

“Hey!’ Jaebeom and Seungyoon say but Youngjae scoffs.

“If he’s willing to work then that’s fine but we need to find a way to cap his… aura.”

Mark looks at Seungyoon, confused by that comment. Sure, him being a demon makes him feel… strange but not anything he can’t handle. He’s had spirits give him migraines for weeks on end - Seungyoon is a walk in the park compared to them. But if Youngjae says it’s bad then it must be unbearable for him.

“You’re not exactly what I’d call fairy dust, kid,” Seungyoon harps back, irritated. “But I can try and reel it in. I’d… I’d need to experiment with Jaebeom’s aura then. If he calms you all, I need to use him to blanket myself.”

Mark holds out his hands to both of them, as if it will stop either of them jumping the conference table and throttling each other. “Fine, as long as Jaebeom is okay with it. And don’t- Don’t take his blood.”

Seungyoon mocks him but stares at Jaebeom like a deer in the headlights when the researcher glares at him. “Fine, I won’t steal your blood! But Youngjae has to promise not to exorcise me.”

Youngjae rolls his eyes. He hesitates to respond but he looks at Mark once and sighs. “Fine. I promise. I wasn’t going to until you said that, for the record.” He closes the file and basically throws it to Jaebeom. “And we work in my room when you figure out how to cap your stench.”

“Would have thought he’d be a werewolf with how much you’re talking about his musk,” Jackson mutters, smiling when Mark shoots him a glare. “But anyways. If that cat fight is over, I’d like to discuss upcoming cases.”

Mark lets Jackson take over, hiding his yawn behind his hand to not be rude. He’s listening but he’s exhausted, especially from watching Youngjae who seems so intrigued that it's draining Mark. It’s wonderful to see, from a boss’ perspective but he’s still on the downhill slope to his bed.

“What do you think, Mark-hyung?” Jackson says suddenly, meeting his eyes and Mark blinks, unable to reply. He has no idea what Jackson just said. So much for claiming he was listening.

“Sure,” he says, hoping it was the right reply but Jackson frowns, looking down at his file.

“I asked what we should do about the daughter who’s getting calls from her dead mother…?”

Mark blinks again and rubs his face. “Shit, sorry. Uh, if you checked it out already then try burning her bones. If she was cremated then… The daughter’s got to have something important. Get the scoop and try to avoid telling the daughter. I don’t need to explain to another preteen that ghosts are real.”

Jackson nods, awkwardly shooting Mark a glance. “I… I couldn’t leave the bags in the house. The mother was too powerful.”

Mark licks his lips again and sighs. “Then I’ll sort it out. Leave the papers on my desk and I’ll follow it up. Thanks, Jacks.”

Jackson ducks his head and Jinyoung smiles at him, so softly that Mark looks away. “Then if that’s settled, I will end this meeting. Welcome Youngjae, we’re glad to have you here.”

No one else says a word but Jinyoung elbows Youngjae, shooting him a small smile. The younger takes it in stride, finally looking his age with the boyish grin on his face. His bruises are all gone and he looks sweet, his black hair hanging in his eyes. He got it cut recently, if his undercut is anything to go by but the length is still hanging closer to his chin than his ears.

Mark takes a breath and stands up, nodding to Jaebeom. “Worry about the files. Go home and let Seungyoon figure out the business with his energy. I’m not mopping up Youngjae’s guts when he vomits them up next week.”

“It’ll be a lot more than my guts,” Youngjae mutters. He follows Mark out of the conference room, eager to get to his room which is the furthest away from where Seungyoon is. 

But Mark stops him before he can go, hand to his chest despite having no idea what to say. “Are you okay?” he blurts, stupidly but Youngjae laughs. It’s a pleasant sound and it definitely beats his anger from before. 

“Company mental health policy?” the younger fires back, jokingly but Mark grimaces. “I’m fine, really. Seungyoon-hyung is… I like his personality but…. If a spirit walked in here, acting human, you’d know it was a spirit, right? You wouldn’t be able to look past it?”

“No, I’d know immediately.” Or at least Mark hopes he would. But if he missed it, Jinyoung and Jackson would pick up on it.

“It’s the same with him for me.” Youngjae swallows, glancing at Mark’s office window. Something crosses over his eyes but it’s gone before he looks back, pushing his glasses up. “Doesn’t matter. It’s my problem, I’ll sort it out.”

He slips away before Mark can say anything more. It is his issue but that doesn’t mean he won’t get help if that’s what he wants. But right now, it doesn’t matter. There’s other things to deal with on a Friday afternoon. It’s best if Mark retires for the afternoon. Maybe he’ll nap and go home with Jinyoung so he doesn’t have to drive.

Ah, choices. Such a human thing.

  
  


***

  
  


“Nice set up,” Seungyoon says as he steps into Youngjae’s room. It’s finally completed, all cleaned out. It’s dark inside and Youngjae flicks on a light by his altar, lighting the candles for good measure.

Seungyoon grimaces at a few of the crosses pinned to Youngjae’s walls but sits down on the floor, on top of one of the cushions Youngjae throws his way. “I figured out the aura thing,” he says, pulling out two test tubes and handing them to Youngjae. “One has what is used to summon me to the crossroads that I haunt. The other has Jaebeom’s favourite things and the scents he’s most inclined to respond to.”

Youngjae spies the tubes, understanding Seungyoon’s vial. It’s a disgusting mix and Youngjae frowns at it before he says, “Milk?” and shakes the concoction. 

“From a black cow,” Seungyoon smiles, leaning back on his hands. “Graveyard dirt, milk from a black cow, and my favourite flower. Black roses.”

“Meaning revenge, hatred and… need I go on?”

Seungyoon shakes his head. “I know what I am. Jaebeom’s has rosemary and sage - they’re his favourite herbs. Pure coffee beans and a dash of whiskey.”

Youngjae looks at the vial and decides it looks disgusting considering that the whiskey is beginning to dissolve the coffee beans, turning the liquid a gritty black colour. At least it worked. Seungyoon’s soul isn’t choking him anymore or making him want to throw them both out of the stained glass window behind his altar so he’ll deal with a thick soup of coffee and whiskey if it means keeping Seungyoon’s abilities in check.

“We should get more of these,” Youngjae says, tapping Jaebeom’s vial. “If it works for you, it could be a good portable way to use Jaebeom’s energy when he’s not around. I’m assuming you did something else to the vials, though.”

“Yes, he bled into it,” Seungyoon says, rather seriously and Youngjae makes a strange sound from his throat in order not to dry heave. “You wanted to know.”

“I really didn’t.” Youngjae shakes his head as he pulls up an all rack he used to use for spices when summoning things. The viles fit nicely on his altar, in front of a cross which should help to ground Seungyoon so he smiles, feeling a wave of calm wash over him. If Seungyoon’s energy was running wild, he wouldn’t be able to feel settled like this so it’s a good start.

“I’ll refresh these every month,” Youngjae tells him, flicking Jaebeom’s vial. “Thanks, hyung. And I’m sorry for… responding the way I have.”

“Angels and demons were never meant to be partners,” Seungyoon answers, shrugging. 

“I’m not an angel.”

“No, but you are the closest thing to it.”

“That would be a prophet.”

“Have you ever met a prophet?” Seungyoon asks, drawing close to himself. Youngjae decides it would be better to sit down to have this conversation. There’s a few things he’s rusty on, even when working in multiple churches. 

Seungyoon smiles, a cheeky thing and even his laugh is cute. He can see why Jaebeom seems to really like him. “If we’re done clipping each other’s wings, I can tell you everything I know.” He points to one of Youngjae’s journals that line the wall behind him. “Pass me those.”

They spend hours revising Youngjae’s knowledge together. There’s a lot they argue about and a few things they agree on which is good. Youngjae thought angels could possess anyone of faith but as it turns out, they need verbal consent from a vessel. Demons don’t and they will smother a human’s soul inside their body until there is nothing left to sparkle.

“Did your demon do that?” Youngjae asks, glancing up at him. 

Seungyoon has been correcting one of his spell books, but glances up as he speaks. “No. I’m close to seven hundred years old, Youngjae. You don’t want to know what my demon did to me down there.”

“Try me.”

Seungyoon stares at him before he grins, chuckling to himself. “I’m happy to chat about it but Jaebeom doesn’t know. I think I’d rather tell him first before I go spilling my guts to an altar boy.”

Youngjae supposes he can understand that. That and he’s seen a lot himself. He doesn’t need to know Seungyoon’s sob story about downstairs, filled with grime, guts and torture. He hands Seungyoon another book, crosses his legs and gets to work.

It’s another couple of hours before their silence is interrupted by Jackson knocking on the door. He opens it not a moment later, sending them both a smile. “Hey, God squad. Jaebeom’s been looking for you, Yoon-hyung. And Mark-hyung needs Youngjae to help him with- Uh. Grocery shopping?”

Youngjae stares at him before he sighs and stands up. “Dead cats?”

“No!” Jackson gasps, glaring at Seungyoon when the demon throws his head back and laughs. “Just- herbs and ingredients. We do an errand run every few weeks so this is your turn to get familiar with it.”

Right. They still have a job to do. “Rain check?” he tells Seungyoon and the demon nods, stretching out his legs.

“I need to say hey to Jaebeom, apparently.”

Youngjae packs his journals away quickly before blowing out his candles. Seungyoon leaves right after him. He spots Mark sitting on Jaebeom’s desk, flicking through one of the files in an attempt to look like he’s busy.

“You needed me?” he asks, shaking his hair out of his eyes. Maybe it really is getting too long. His glasses aren’t keeping it out of his eyes this time. “Altar boy turned errand boy. This wasn’t in my contract.”

Mark closes the file and looks up at him, shaking his own hair out of his eyes. Youngjae never noted it before but it’s a faded lavender colour, his roots coming in fast as a dark inky black. He’s… pretty, if Youngjae had to be honest, in an ethereal type of way. Maybe he’s been reading too much about angels today.

“Yes,” he says, hopping off the desk. “Come with me.”

They cross the catwalk back towards Youngjae’s room. The wall that faces the road has windows, same with the wall that’s behind Jinyoung and Jaebeom’s desks. There’s cabinets, cupboards, vanities, pretty much anything with drawers and shelves and they’re stacked full of herbs for spells, summoning rituals and whatever anyone could need for the deep, dark and wonderful. 

“And we need to restock… what exactly?” Youngjae asks, crossing his arms. “It seems like you’ve got enough for a Sunday roast and enough to make Seungyoon-hyung spit something black up.”

“I’m still here?” the demon answers, throwing his hands up from where he’s sitting on Jaebeom’s desk. The researcher is back too, sitting at his desk with a small smile on his lips.

“Yeah,” Mark laughs, glancing over his shoulder. “I’m- I can get paranoid about this stuff. If we run out then I- I don’t even want to think about it. Just come with me because we get some of the stuff from all different kinds of witches and occult places.”

Youngjae nods, trying to note down everything he’s being told but he might need a few more run downs before he gets everything stored in his brain cleanly. He follows Mark down the stairs and catches Mark’s keys when he chucks them to him. 

The back of the office is an old dirt parking lot, with a few other cars dotted around that have to be Jinyoung’s, Jackson’s and Jaebeom’s. One of them is Youngjae’s, a newish Toyota Corolla which means this thing has to be Mark’s; all black inside and out and polished so shiny that Youngjae could check his teeth in the hood.

“You’re driving,” Mark tells him, heading to the passenger side of the old style car. “I don’t mind driving but the sooner you’re comfortable with all our cars, the sooner you fit in.”

“I don’t fit in right now?” Youngjae teases as he swings himself into Mark’s car. It’s too much of a western style for it to be common to the average person so he holds his hands out above the steering wheel and shoots Mark a look.

“1964 Pontiac GTO,” Mark answers, grinning to himself. Seems to be a private interest of his. “Two door hardtop. Only made for three years in America. First of its kind in the 60s trend of muscle cars.” Youngjae stares at him until Mark clears his throat, suddenly looking awkward instead of proud. “Uh, pontiacs never made it to Korea. My family likes cars and I had this one shipped over when I moved.”

“Seems like an awfully expensive car for a spirit specialist,” Youngjae muses, turning around to look at the back seat. It’s all beautiful black leather, barely a speck of dust anywhere which just shows how much time Mark probably spends taking care of this thing. 

“My grandfather bought it back in the 60s,” Mark says, his eyes on the dash. “Passed it down and I took my pick from the line to take with me. It’s the most expensive thing I own, only because it’s so old and they don’t make them anymore.”

“One in a million,” Youngjae mutters as he surveys the rig. It’s a manual, as expected and Youngjae’s a little rusty but Mark must have known that when he gave him the keys. He knows how to drive manuals, only because of an old job he worked just out of high school that required the license so he’s hoping his brain will kick in quickly and remind him.

“Anyone else rocking this old rocker style?” Youngjae asks as he pulls out of Mark’s parking space with enough grace as one would expect. “Jinyoung-hyung would look good in one of these.”

Mark sits back in his seat and watches Youngjae drive carefully, smiling softly at him. “Yeah, he would. But no, he’s got a normal car, I guess.”

Youngjae notes that. Jinyoung is handsome in a natural kind of way so while a car like this would look good with him on the hood, it’s a little too lavish for a vanilla guy like Jinyoung. 

“Jinyoung isn’t vanilla,” Mark mumbles, fiddling with his phone. He pulls a journal out from his leather backpack, the one he apparently does inventory in and shoots Youngjae a cheeky smile. “You think out loud.”

“I guess I’m used to being alone,” Youngjae mumbles, taking the second exit of a roundabout when Mark instructs him to. “Who are we going to meet again?”

“I never said their names.” Mark flicks to another page, in the back of his journal where seven names are noted. Youngjae can’t read them because he’s driving but Mark reads them out for him. “Seo Eunkwang, Lee Minhyuk, Lee Changsub, the list goes on. They’re local witches and damn good at it. Minhyuk has saved my ass more times than I can count.”

“How do you know them?”

“Another guy, Peniel. We go way back. Friends for a long time, even back in America.” Mark purses his lips as he cycles through his journal. “It’s just a routine pick up. Eunkwang-hyung knows I’m coming, anyways.”

Youngjae nods along, swinging the car around when Mark tells him too. It’s a bitch to drive but damn, if it doesn’t feel good. The address is a quaint little place, since there’s not many Victorian style gothic churches lying around in Korea but it’s really nice, if Youngjae has to admit.

“A church?” he asks as they step out of the car. “And you brought me here?”

Mark smiles at him over the roof of his car and hikes his bag onto one shoulder. “Figured I’d really let you fit in, altar boy. Come on, maybe they have some communion cookies.”

Youngjae sputters, rolling his eyes. “They’re  _ wafer _ and they’re just called communion, you jackass.”

Mark waves his hand to dismiss him. Stepping up the church stairs is a long and uncomfortable trip down memory lane but Youngjae swallows his pride and has to be grateful he’s not dressed in his cercial clothing. It’s been a long time since he wore that.

Mark knocks on the large oak door, waiting for it to open before his expression changes. A man, shorter than the both of them with such a soft face that Youngjae doesn’t want to believe he’s an age old witch greets them quite warmly and swings the door open to pull Mark into his arms.

“I’ve missed you!” he announces as Mark holds him close with one arm, the other still on his backpack. “I mean, I saw you two weeks ago but hey! Good afternoon, Mark.”

“Good afternoon, Eunkwang-hyung,” Mark smiles and pulls away to introduce Youngjae. “This is Youngjae, a new recruit. He’s an exorcist, if you happen to be familiar.”

“Oh, I’ve met a few in my day.” Eunkwang smiles at Youngjae, offering his hand to shake. “Lovely to meet you. Come on, I’ve got a whole coven in here and we always welcome new ones.”

Youngjae glances at Mark before he’s pulled into the church and Youngjae yelps, almost faceplanting with his hand still clasped in Eunkwang’s. Mark follows after him with a too smug smile and greets everyone who comes up to them.

Mark introduces Youngjae to all of them, rattling off the names - Minhyuk, Hyunsik, Sungjae, Changsub and Peniel. Youngjae counts in his head because he’s positive he saw seven names in Mark’s journal and there’s only six right now-

Eunkwang looks around, side to side before he sighs. It’s Changsub who’s been lounging in one of the pews that calls, “Ilhoon! We’ve got company!” though its more of a screech than a call out.

“Shut up!” comes the reply and Youngjae holds his hands up to stop them from further screaming at each other lest a fight break out. He doesn’t want to be caught in the middle of it.

“We’re just here for errands,” he says, glancing at Mark. “Um, the boss… The boss got me to come to meet you all.”

Someone kicks the door in by the altar, from where the dorm rooms would be on the floor above. Youngjae turns to see a man who can only be Ilhoon, his hair a chestnut brown in a mullet style. The ends are curled and he’s honestly quite… pretty, if he didn’t look like he could pull out Youngjae’s tongue for saying so.

“Oh, you’re a church boy if I’ve ever seen one,” he says as he crosses the church floor, hands in the pockets of his black three quarter corduroys. “Youngjae, right? Jinyoungie has told me about you.”

Youngjae blinks at him as he steps up close, too close for comfort but neither of them pull away. Ilhoon’s eyes are a strange colour; too brown to be yellow but too yellow to be brown. But he smiles, all cheeks and no teeth. “Come on,” he says, cocking his head to where he came from. “These clowns will make your ears bleed before they’ll give you any help.”

“Hey,” Eunkwang says weakly while Minhyuk chuckles, shaking his head. It seems Eunkwang owns the show but Ilhoon is the main act, dolled up and ready to go.

Mark pats Youngjae’s shoulder before he shoves him to follow after Ilhoon. It’s a long walk but the dorm space is decked out with each of their names on the doors which is quite cute. Ilhoon doesn’t speak while they walk, only the sound of their shoes clicking on the polished wood floors. Ilhoon’s don’t really click - his battered up Chuck Taylors just  _ pat, pat, pat _ .

“In here,” he says suddenly, turning sharply to the right and opening a door that reads  _ Storage and Supplies _ . Youngjae expects the room to be like his tiny office, but the room seems to go on for miles and miles, both walls lined with shelves and drawers full of the same stuff they have back at the office.

Ilhoon looks up at Youngjae, glasses suddenly on his face with beaded chains hanging from the arms, sparkling in the harsh yellow lighting. “What will it be?” he asks.

Youngjae blinks, turning robotically to Mark for his journal. The specialist already has it out and opens it for him, tapping the page where he needs to read. “Uh… Rosemary, mugwort, yarrow flowers-”

“For demons?” Ilhoon asks, his fingers dancing along various glass jars. They’re not painted but Youngjae can bet he’d look good in black nail polish.

“Sure,” Youngjae answers, glancing at Mark who nods. “Red clover… Cat skulls and a rabbit’s foot? Oh, and black roses, if you have them.”

Ilhoon pauses. He squints at one of the jars and pulls it out, handing Youngjae a few smaller jars that are lined behind it. “Black roses?” he questions, his brows furrowed together. “For what? That’s not in any spell I know.”

“It’s for a demon as well.”

Mark peers at him, confused before his eyes clear. “Seungyoon’s favourite flower.”

“Should I know of this Seungyoon?” Ilhoon calls, somehow even further into the room than before. He rushes back and hands Youngjae dried yarrow flowers. “Sounds normal enough but not nearly.”

“Crossroads demon,” Mark says, shooting him a small smile that says  _ don’t ask. _ “Has Eunkwang-hyung brought in any new antiques?”

Ilhoon returns his eyes to the jars, scanning the labels quickly. “No, nothing new. We haven’t been out much.” He looks at Mark over his glasses and raises his eyebrows, looking every bit like an age old scholar surveying his library of goods. “Do you need anything else?”

Youngjae glances at Mark who just stares at him, shrugging. “No, I guess?”

“Okay, get out of my room,” Ilhoon orders, rubbing his hands together. “You’re cute but if that’s all you’re here for then let’s move on. Pleasure doing business with you, mister Youngjae. Get out of my church. You seem to be good at that.”

Youngjae rolls his eyes. So much for keeping his backstory on lock. Mark doesn’t seem to want to stick around much longer and takes the jars that Youngjae is balancing in his arms, placing them into his backpack. It clacks and clinks when he has it full and swings it over his shoulder but he smiles, nodding down the empty hall.

“Let’s get the hell out of dodge,” he says and Youngjae supposes he can handle that. The church is empty now, not any of the six men left over to bid them goodbye. For some reason, that unsettles him more than an over-friendly goodbye from Eunkwang but he swallows and leaves, Mark’s car key still in his pocket.

“Now you’ve met those guys,” Mark says when they’re at the car, tapping on the polished roof, “you know our suppliers.”

“Yeah, yarrow flowers for more demons,” Youngjae fires back. “I’m not buying the whole ‘I have no idea about demons’ anymore, boss.”

Mark winks at him and jumps into his car, his bag sitting nicely in his lap. “Don’t worry about what I’m doing, Youngjae. Just drive me back to the office.” 

Youngjae decides not to make a further comment but he finds it a little fitting that Mark knows a lot about demon herbs. There’s a lot Youngjae doesn’t know about him, he supposes. He settles into the car and takes a breath, starting up the pontiac and listening to her purr. 

Nice day for a drive.

  
  


***

Youngjae has not been late for work since he joined the crew. Normally he walks in when everyone is coming in, starting their day with a cup of coffee and the slow unloading of work.

Yet, here Mark is, watching the clock as it ticks by, and still no sign of Youngjae. If he’s really in trouble, he would tell Mark. It’s common courtesy when you have a job. 

But in this workplace, nothing is sacred and that includes gossip. Jackson starts it because he’s only curious and unfortunately Jaebeom has a nasty habit of inserting himself into issues and then never resolving them.

“Have we seen what he can do yet?” Jackson asks, which is innocent enough. Everyone either shakes their head no or shrugs. “I mean, he did those sigils with Jinyoung which look fantastic, by the way.” Jinyoung rolls his eyes but everyone can tell he’s pleased at the complement. “And he did those tubes with Seungyoon’s blood.”

“But that was mostly me,” Seungyoon says, from where he’s sitting on Jaebeom’s desk. “He’s going to make a few vials of Jaebeom’s things to make his energy portable.”

“Like a power bank,” Jaebeom smiles, looking up at him. But he drops his eyes to Mark, who’s leaning against the railing of the stairwell. “But shouldn’t we test Youngjae’s abilities?”

Mark opens his mouth to reply but the front door finally opens downstairs, signalling Youngjae’s arrival. He presses a finger to his lips to make them all quiet.

Youngjae walks up the stairs, bag over his shoulder and sunglasses high on his nose. All eyes turn to him. He leans heavily on one leg, cocking his hip and looks at all of them over his sunglasses. “Judging from the looks on your faces, I’m assuming you were talking about me?”

Jackson looks awkward, like a kicked puppy but Jinyoung says, “Yes, it was gossip,” and turns back to his computer as if nothing is wrong.

“May I know the gossip?” Youngjae asks, taking off his glasses to replace them with his regular lenses. He always looks younger with his glasses on but Mark has learnt that he prefers them over contacts.

“Can we see your abilities?” Jackson blurts. He’s standing in Mark’s doorway, struggling to look innocent because he’s too curious. He looks around when Seungyoon shoots him a look and swallows. “No one else was going to ask…” 

“Mark-hyung knows what I can do,” Youngjae says, gesturing to Mark for defense. 

Mark does know but he’s hardly seen it all so he turns, leans his arms on the railings so he bends and prompts Youngjae to show them. “Seriously?” the man questions, rolling his eyes. But he puts his bag down, asks for Seungyoon to come forward and dusts his shirt off.

“Focus on me,” he says and Seungyoon nods. 

The temperature drops as if there’s a spirit but the only thing that’s strange is Youngjae’s eyes rolling back in his head as he stares at Seungyoon. The crossroads demon leans back from him in surprise but still stands his ground, his eyes never returning to their natural brown. 

Youngjae mutters a few words of Latin before he holds out his hand. An empty jar appears in his hand and Seungyoon’s eyes stray to it before he starts breathing awkwardly, his expression changing into one of pain. He starts to choke, his chest seeming to constrict and his eyes stray back to Youngjae in shock.

Jaebeom stands up in a rush but Jackson stops him, watching as Youngjae keeps chanting and Seungyoon begins to choke up a thick, crimson like smoke that gathers around their feet before it starts to fill the jar. It’s the same colour of his eyes that are slowly changing back to their natural brown, the blood red desperately clinging to the irises.

“Seungyoon-” Jaebeom says, strained but Seungyoon doesn’t answer. Only Mark can see what is happening in full detail and his eyes are wide enough to warn them what is happening.

“Youngjae, that’s enough,” Mark starts but Youngjae shows no signs of stopping. He doubts Youngjae can even hear him, honestly. When the jar is full within a few seconds, Seungyoon’s body drops like a deadweight to the floor, collapsed. 

He’s dead. Because without Seungyoon, there is nothing to keep the body intact. All of them stare at the body on the floor, unable to comprehend what the hell just happened.

Seungyoon is dead. Or, the demon that possessed the body of Kang Seungyoon is… dead?

Youngjae breaks the silence by closing the jar as he closes his eyes, too. There is a terrifying silence that falls over the room before Jackson lets Jaebeom go in a struggle. The researcher grabs Seungyoon in a rush and pulls him into his lap, his hands shaking with obviously no idea what to do and Mark can only stare at the two of them, his mouth dry.

“Youngjae,” Mark says softly, drawing up from the railing. He’s unsure if he should touch him but Youngjae’s eyes open suddenly and he stares at Mark like he’s seeing him for the very first time, his hands shaking around the jar.

“Youngjae, give me the jar,” Mark whispers, looking up at him. Youngjae doesn’t move so Mark touches his cheek and the younger blinks again before he looks down at the jar full of Seungyoon’s soul, his eyes wide.

“Put him back,” Jaebeom whispers from the floor, staring up at them with tears in his eyes. To see someone so emotional over a demon… It’s a strange thing to witness, even for Mark. “Please, Youngjae-”

Youngjae uncaps the jar while Mark holds it and the soul comes spilling out, gathering back on the floor. The body does not move, no response to Jaebeom holding his face. But the soul sneaks back into him, through the nose, mouth, ears - anywhere it can possibly reach. The sight makes Mark want to choke but he controls himself, watching intensely as it all happens.

When Seungyoon’s eyes open, time happens in slow motion. The jar drops because Mark lets go of it, letting it bounce once against the tiled floor before shattering. But the jar is the least of his concerns, since Youngjae falls back, towards the stairs. It’s lucky that Mark is so close since he grabs him, turns him and pulls him in, falling harshly on his backside in order to stop them both from falling down the stairs.

Mark faces the stairs now, clutching the exorcist to his chest. “Okay,” he grunts as Youngjae’s legs spill out onto the stairs. “Come on, come here. _ Fuck _ , you’re heavy.”

“Or you’re just weak,” comes Seungyoon’s voice suddenly and he does not sound pleased. Mark looks behind him and the demon is back to his regular cold red eyes, clearly pissed off from what just happened. “Don’t ever ask him to do that again or I will eat your tongue.” He drops his chin, glares at Mark and clenches his jaw. “It’s the best part.”

Mark sighs and pulls Youngjae up but it’s Jinyoung that helps him, his hands shaking as he lifts the man into his arms. Mark could carry him but Jinyoung has him so there’s no use in arguing about it. That and there’s a bunch of broken glass on the floor so if Mark drops him… 

“Take him to my off- No.” Mark shakes his head as Jinyoung blinks at him, for once having nothing to say. “He has a couch in his room. Come with me. Seungyoon, there’s a couch in my office you can use unless you’d rather go home. It’s up to you.”

Seungyoon only stands up when Jaebeom urges him to. Mark is already walking down the catwalk with Jinyoung to open the door and he pulls out the couch, flinching when it smacks against the wall. Mark sits on it to wedge it down with an awful sound but Jinyoung lays Youngjae down without any error.

“I’ll be with him,” Mark says quickly, prompting Jinyoung to leave. It’s only when they’re alone that Mark dares to touch Youngjae, pushing his bangs from his eyes. He pulls off Youngjae’s glasses, leaving them next to him for easy access.

Youngjae makes a pained sound, his eyebrows scrunching together as he shifts. It must have been too much of a rush to his head to make him pass out like that - that or they truly all underestimated how powerful Seungyoon is. 

Mark settles next to Youngjae, simply gazing at him to take him in. His appearance is much more put together than it was when he walked in all those weeks ago. No bruises, no cuts… Just a-

“Blood nose,” Mark breathes as a thin line of crimson slips out of Youngjae's nose, running down his lip. Mark panics and looks around, grabbing a tissue box from beneath Youngjae’s table. He dabs at Youngjae’s nose but it keeps coming so he turns his head to the side, pulls his body into his lap and lets the blood drain.

In an ideal world, Youngjae would just tip his head back but before Mark can hang his head off the side of the bed to drain it, Youngjae’s eyes open.

"Oh, good,” Mark breathes and manhandles him as Youngjae groans, squinting as he’s jostled. He sits up, awkwardly but lets his head be wrenched back by Mark’s hand in his hair. "Your nose is bleeding.”

“I can tell,” Youngjae whispers, his hand clenching around the tissue. “It’s usually what would happen when I was younger.” His eyes flicker to Mark at his side and he raises his eyebrows. “When I was a rookie.”

Mark sighs and hands him his glasses, pulling his hand from Youngjae’s hair which is way too soft. “If you’re okay, then I’ll be leaving.”

Youngjae stops him by his wrist, looking up at him through his glasses and he smiles. “Why did you wait for me to wake up?” he asks quietly, a little lift to his voice that makes Mark swallow.

“Protocol,” he answers but Youngjae’s frown tells him he doesn’t believe him. “I was worried. Sue me. You almost fell down a flight of stairs if I hadn’t caught you. And there’s glass everywhere.”

“That’s not my fault,” Youngjae smiles, cocky despite the tissue shoved up his nose. He ducks his head, wiping at his nose once more before sniffing. “Right. Guess I’m not used to having my employer care about me.” He glances at the door and awkwardly shifts his body along the bed when Mark doesn't laugh. “Sorry. I’ll- I’ll be up later.”

“Right.” Mark doesn’t wait around. Youngjae isn’t a baby. All he can do is make sure he doesn’t choke on his own blood and leave so he closes Youngjae’s door and walks back to his office.

“Is he okay?” Jinyoung asks before Mark can get into his office. So much for him not inserting himself anywhere. “He went a little…”

“Coocoo for cocoa puffs?” Jaebeom says as he walks out of the conference room, leaning on his desk. He doesn't look pleased but how can you be after having to cradle someone's soulless body and beg the man who made it that way to fix it? “Seungyoon’s fine, by the way. No thanks to your little soul snatcher.”

“I didn’t ask him to do that,” Mark says carefully, squinting at Jaebeom. “Do not pin that on me, Jaebeom. You would be walking a very fine line with me.”

Jaebeom lifts his chin and Mark feels the change in atmosphere, turning it cold between all three of them. Jinyoung ducks his head and doesn’t insert himself for once but Jaebeom just sighs. There's a battle here that is worth fighting but it's too tiresome to fight it right now, for any of them.

“Right.” He shakes his head before he steps back into the conference room without so much as glancing back at Mark. “Because you’re my boss before you’re my friend.” The door slams and Mark shakes his head.

“Watch him,” he says to Jinyoung who just mumbles in reply, uncharacteristically quiet. Mark looks at him but the specialist doesn’t meet his eyes which explains how he feels. No one gets in the way of Mark and his temper but he didn’t really flare up that bad just then. So what’s the problem?

Whatever. Mark locks himself in his office and waits for the day to be over. He needs to document what Youngjae just did for his employee profile, just to keep track of his abilities so he decides it’s better to do that than to do nothing and fume all day.

Demons are a tricky thing.

  
  


INVESTIGATION 011:

MARK, TUAN

09:39

_ CONVERSATION OF ABILITIES _

**[ONGOING]**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and there's btob ! just another quick word - i am 7tob (can't believe i have to even say that but...) so that's why ilhoon is getting my love and attention here. the story moving forward will focus primarily on got7 as there will be a new introduction next chapter :) thanks guys

**Author's Note:**

> new au... haha.  
> i've been binging supernatural while watching this (she and i go way back... it's a long story) but it's been good.  
> i hope you guys will enjoy this, thank you again for reading :)


End file.
